I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and Emmerdale star Lisa Riley is the latest female contestant to leave the Australian jungle, following Martin Kemp’s exit
Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle star Lisa Riley has been open about her personal struggles over the years, which has included difficulty with conceiving with her fiancé Al Benkovic.
During her stint in the Australian jungle, she has continued that openness, often sparking deep and heartfelt conversations with her fellow I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! campmates.
As she prepares for the real world again following her exit, we take a closer look at some of the challenges Lisa has not shied away from discussing in recent years.
Fertility struggles
During a recent conversation in the jungle about having children, Lisa said she believed 33 was the perfect age to become a parent. In her case however, the actress is unfortunately yet to become a mother due to problems with conceiving.
Previously speaking to Hello! Magazine about her struggles, the actress said she found fertility treatment “emotionally draining” and has since come to terms with not having children of her own.
“My body was being pumped full of hormones to get my egg readings, and in the end they weren’t good, it messes with your head and I just couldn’t do that to myself anymore,” she shared.
“The past few months have been really hard, emotionally draining, and we just decided that enough was enough.”
She went on to say: “Finding out that I was unlikely to get pregnant was a blow. But I refuse to be defined by that.”
In a separate interview, Lisa said she “wouldn’t be able to cope” with adopting, fearing the child might want to return to their biological parents.
“There are enough lovely people in this world that would like to adopt, but no, we are past that now,” she told The Sun. “I am 48 and I feel like an unfinished jigsaw — that is the truth of a woman who doesn’t have children but who is okay with it.
Instead, Lisa prides herself on being an auntie. Ahead of going into the jungle, she said of her stint: “Forget the NTAs and BAFTAs, the fact I am going into the jungle means I am hopefully the best auntie in the world to my nephews Jakey and Joshua, and niece, Everlyn. I can forever say to them I tackled the jungle head-on. It is going to be ace!”
Challenges with fame
Lisa is best known for playing the role of Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap Emmerdale. The actress first stepped into the Dales in 1995 before making her initial exit in 2001.
At the time, Lisa said she struggled with fame, which included regularly being on the front pages of magazines. She told Woman Magazine: “I remember being in the supermarket, and I was on the cover of every magazine with the Mandy and Dave Glover storyline.
“I felt claustrophobic and started to have panic attacks. Me, [and EastEnders stars] Patsy Palmer and Martine McCutcheon were the tabloid ‘faces of soap’ and were followed everywhere like pop stars. Initially, it was hard.”
Lisa said she didn’t feel as though she needed therapy at the time, but instead credited her, now late, mum for helping her through the process.
After taking a break from the Dales to focus on other roles, she returned in 2019 with newfound confidence.
“I pride myself on being grounded and haven’t had a panic attack for years,” she added. “Now the young’uns at Emmerdale come to me for advice.”
Dealing with grief
Lisa was left devastated in 2012 when her mother Cath died following a battle with breast cancer, which later spread to her ovaries and pelvis.
Speaking to Express in 2022, Lisa said the pain was still very much with her. “I always say that mum was the oxygen in the room. Mum made me look timid and that’s not an exaggeration,” she shared. “Mum loved the colour yellow and whenever I see it, I think of her and feel her with me.”
In the same chat, she revealed that she was facing more grief following the death of her mother-in-law.
On how she’s dealt with losing a loved one, Lisa credited her supportive family and claimed talking to those in the same situation had also helped.
“Especially with my family, we now know each other inside out, back to front, and with that in mind, it’s taken ownership of how individual we are,” she shared.
Lisa went on to say that portraying Mandy had also been helpful with hiding her true emotions.
“Some days I can put Mandy’s wig on and put the lashes on, the full make-up and the fabulous clothes, and I can kind of live vicariously through Mandy and that helps me get though the days when, you know, I’m really struggling,” she added.
Weight loss turnaround
The Mandy Dingle star recently opened up about her weight loss during a conversation with campmates in the jungle. As part of the chat, she admitted to undergoing a breast uplift after shedding the pounds and revealed: “I’m now a size 16-18, but at my biggest I was a size 28.”
She went on to say: “My absolute guilt for years and years was blindness to portion control… I’ve completely cut out nibbling. I’m never lazy, I think it’s hereditary, I really do.”
The actress is said to have 12 stone over the past decade through a combination of diet and gym workouts. This lifestyle change came following many years of trying many fad diets that “didn’t work” for her.
One of the biggest changes she made was giving up alcohol, which she has successfully avoided for the past 10 years.
Previously opening up about her diet changes, she said on This Morning: “My vice is crisps – that’s the one thing I find it hard to say no to. Alcohol was my comfort blanket. The Malbec I love would be accompanied by feel-good food the next day – bread that was swimming in butter.”
Lisa has since become more aware of her portion sizes and is said to have ditched junk food for more nutrient-dense and fresh options.
As part of her exercise regime, she is also believed to be a fan of yoga, cardio and HIIT.
Shedding the pounds wasn’t always plain sailing for Lisa however. In her ITV documentary Lisa Riley’s Baggy Body Club, she showcased the results of her operation to have her loose skin removed.
