Lisa Riley, known best as Mandy Dingle, is heading to Australia to take part in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here
Lisa Riley has played Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale for 30 years(Image: Lisa Riley on Instagram)
Lisa Riley, known best for playing Mandy Dingle on ITV Emmerdale, is set to enter the jungle as a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here 2025.
Born in Bury, Greater Manchester, Lisa is one of three celebrities representing this northern city on this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity alongside rapper Aitch and content creator Angry Ginge.
Other celebs heading down under includes Jack Osbourne, son of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne, footballer Alex Scott, actor and comedian Ruby Wax and musician and actor Martin Kemp.
Regular presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will return to host the show in its 25th anniversary year, which was won by McFly singer Danny Jones in its last series.
Lisa joined Emmerdale as Mandy, the daughter of Caleb and Vera-Lynn Dingle, in 1995 where she soon finds herself living with her uncle Zak and working at The Woolpack.
Lisa Riley will appear on ITV I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here 2025(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Aside from Emmerdale, Lisa has appeared on TV shows including Fat Friends, Coronation Street, The Bill, Holby City, Young Dracula, and Waterloo Road.
Ahead of her appearance on I’m A Celebrity, Lisa has admitted that she has actually been asked to take part in the show several times, and she has finally said yes.
Lisa said: “Now I’ve finally said ‘yes’, the reason is I’m going to be 50 next year, it’s 30 years on and off playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and 10 years of being sober.
“It’s like a big baguette where everything I wanted was in it, and it’s I’m A Celebrity’s 25th series anniversary too.”
But the star has gone through a tough time recently after the tragic death of her Strictly Come Dancing partner and good friend, Robin Windsor, last year.
She said that losing people close to her, including the passing of her mum, has put things into perspective and spurred her on to give the programme a go.
Lisa has spoken candidly about the passing of her good friend Robin Windsor last year(Image: Getty Images)
She went on to open up about how the death of the dancer, as well as her mum, saying: “I lost my best friend not so long ago and mum got diagnoses with at the age of 48 (with breast cancer), I’m 49.
“Nothing can be as bad as that in life and I have got to see if I can do it. Every day is a blessing and I want to really enjoy everything.”
In recent years, Lisa made the decision to transform her lifestyle and lost a total of 12 stone in 18 months. Unlike celebrities who opt for a quick fix, Lisa’s main aim was to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
This involved swapping her usual takeaway meals for regular gym sessions and a healthier diet. During this 18-month period, Lisa went from a size 28 to a slim size 12. But she admitted that the weight loss journey wasn’t easy.
The star had to deal with painful folds of excess skin, weighing more than 1.5 stone, reports the Mirror.
Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley with best friend, late Strictly Come Dancing star Robin Windsor(Image: Lisa Riley Instagram)
In her 2017 documentary, Lisa Riley’s Baggy Body Club, Lisa confessed that her new body had left her feeling ‘revolted’ by her own image and even saw herself as a ‘saggy mess’, following the weight loss.
Lisa Riley has spoken candidly about the difficulties she faced after losing a significant amount of weight, confessing to fans: “When I made the decision to lose weight, I never for one second imagined that I would end up looking like that.”
She reflected on the unexpected outcomes, saying: “It never occurred to me that the loose skin would be so bad. I thought why on earth have I lost all this weight? I looked worse than I did when I was obese. And it was the pain as well. The skin was flapping about and dragging.”
Despite her successful weight loss, Lisa experienced painful side effects due to excess skin that affected her ability to exercise. She shared her discontentment: “When you are on this weight loss journey, food becomes the enemy and you have to go to the gym, you have to move.”
“But the movement was becoming a severe problem. It really hurt, it rubbed and it would get red, and it was hard to clean between the folds.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here is beginning on Sunday, November 16, on ITV1 and ITVX.