Lisa Riley reveals why she’s going on I’m A Celebrity and what will finally make her tie the knot with her boyfriend Al after being engaged for seven years
As Lisa Riley approaches her 50th birthday, she’s checking two important things off her bucket list. The first is going on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. The second is marrying her partner, Al.
Ant and Dec will kick off I’m A Celeb ’s 25th series on Sunday night, with Lisa heading an all-star line up also expected to include Ruby Wax, Martin Kemp and Alex Scott. “Year, after year, after year, they’ve asked me to do it but this year everything felt aligned,” shares Lisa. “It’s the 30th anniversary of Mandy Dingle and then I’m 50 in July and I thought, you know, what a wonderful thing to do in my 50th year.”
Lisa was signed up to the show in April for a reported £95,000 and has kept it a secret from everyone except her co-star Dominic Brunt, who plays her on-screen love Paddy Kirk, and Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw, who agreed to briefly write Mandy out. The trio has talked in code about the adventure, dubbing it Lisa’s “ Christmas trip to Cost-Co”.
“It’s been the best kept secret in the memory of man,” says Lisa. “Me and Dominic were endlessly using our codename of Cost-Co, saying we’re going to Cost-Co at Christmas, and it’s stuck. Dominic’s so proud of me.”
Emmerdale stars including Lucy Pargeter, Adam Thomas and Danny Miller have been on the show before and have given Lisa lots of advice. She’s already started following their directions to wean herself off coffee. “I’m on day eight with no caffeine,” sighs Lisa. “I drink coffee like it’s water. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke but I need coffee in my life. Days one, two, and three were hellish, but I’ve got through it and now I’m detoxing. I’m pure now.” Other advice focuses on sleeping arrangements and bodily functions.
“They’ve all said to try and go for a flat bed, not a hammock, and they’ve also warned me to tell my other campmates about my gas because with rice and beans that’s not going to help,” laughs Lisa. “In the Dingle Girls dressing room we have a hell of a lot of perfume!”
While lots of stars who go into the jungle prep by getting tweakments, haircuts and permanent make-up, Lisa isn’t bothered about how she looks – unlike her character, Mandy. “There is not one morsel of vanity in my body,” says Lisa, who is infuriated when she sees characters on TV waking up in full make-up. “I don’t like vanity on the telly, so I’m going to look minging. I’m going to look horrendous.”
However, she admits she’s not thrilled by the standard issue boots she’s been given to wear with her jungle uniform. “I swear to God, I look like a Rochdale bus driver,” says Lisa. “They’re not the most feminine things.”
With jungle fare including emu eggs, kangaroo and crocodile tail – if they’re lucky enough to win some Bushtucker Trials – Lisa is braced to lose some weight on the show and plans to acclimatise herself to a more limited diet as soon as she lands in Australia to avoid being hangry. “It’ll be time to lose a few pounds, for sure,” says Lisa. “Everyone loses weight in the jungle.”
Lisa isn’t looking forward to the trials and admits being buried alive and covered with rats is her worst nightmare, while the thought of stunts like jumping out of a helicopter terrifies her. Until the moment happens though, she’s simply not thinking about it. “I’ll take every day as it comes,” says Lisa. “I’m not an overthinker, that’s one thing I’ve realised about myself. I’ll have to deal with it there and yes, I will s**t myself. There’s no turning back then, is there?”
While bugs, grubs and stunts grab the headlines, the real hardship of the show is being parted from family and friends. Not talking to Al or her nieces and nephews worries Lisa the most. “Everyone talks about the trials, but for me the hardest thing will be not speaking to my loved ones,” says Lisa. “That’s going to be insanely hard for me.”
Waiting for Lisa when she leaves the jungle will be Al, her partner of 10 years, whose full name she has never revealed. “My Al will be there at the end of the bridge waiting for me,” says Lisa. “We have been talking about getting married. It’s really weird. If I get to the final, then yes, it would make sense this year that I’d come back with that and a wedding ring!”
It sounds like Lisa is finally ready to walk down the aisle, but she’ll have to wait for another break from Emmerdale . “I wouldn’t get married in Australia because I have to come straight back to Emmerdale ,” says Lisa. “They write me out for a chunk but I come straight back. The day after I land back in Leeds, I’m back on set.”
Al proposed to Lisa seven years ago in 2018 after four years together. Until now, Lisa has been the one putting off their big day because she always imagined getting married in the presence of her beloved mum, Cath, who died of cancer in 2012, leaving Lisa broken-hearted.
“The thought of having a wedding without my mum…” says Lisa. “I don’t think I could cope with it. What would be different in our lives [if we got married]? There are so many things we’ve done as a couple that make us feel solidified that are personal to us. But yes, if there was a time to do it, then this year would definitely be it.”
Source: Mirror
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