Lisa Riley was just one of the Emmerdale legends dazzling on the National Television Awards red carpet recently – and as she told us, after so many years in the business, she was delighted to be there.
The chatty 50-year-old has played larger-than-life Mandy Dingle for 13 years across two separate stints – from 1995 to 2001, then again from 2019 onwards. So it’s been more than 30 years since brash, bubbly Mandy first burst onto our TV screens.
And, as Lisa tells us with a massive grin, her longevity on the show is something she never takes for granted. She says, “29 years ago I won Best Newcomer at the NTAs. And here I am at 50, I’m a woman in the industry doing what I love every day. I’m lucky, I’ve never had a day out of work – I love what I do and I think that comes across.”
Lisa, who took part in Strictly in 2012 with the late Robin Windsor, is also more than happy to confirm her future on Emmerdale, revealing, “I’ve just signed another year, I’m very happy – it’s my home. I’m allowed to do other things that I love, but I always say, ‘I will die in leopard print!’”
She also teases that there is some serious drama ahead for Mandy. For a character who has been through a tumultuous marriage, fallen for a gambler and ended up working as a financial dominatrix, that takes some going.
“It’s all kicking off in Emmerdale,” she laughs. “Eight weeks of massive drama. All I can say is, it’s full-on and the audience is going to love Mandy even more.”
Back in June, Lisa was appointed an MBE for her services to drama and charity in the King’s Birthday Honours, alongside the likes of Dame Helen Mirren and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi – making history as the first ever cast member from the ITV soap to do so.
Speaking at the time, the former I’m A Celebrity… star confessed it was a hugely exciting gift ahead of her milestone 50th birthday, which was the following month.
She said, “Wow, if this is not my best 50th birthday present, being awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list, I don’t know what is. To say I am humbled is an absolute understatement. My heart is the warmest it could ever be.”
Asked on the NTAs red carpet how it feels to have an MBE after her name these days, Lisa reveals a surprising perk of the award, saying, “You can get upgraded travel, which is really nice. Who doesn’t want a lovely tray of food rather than a microwave dish?”
The actress, who has been engaged to her partner Al Benkovic for more than eight years, could also take advantage of another perk. She could follow in the footsteps of Spice Girl and fellow MBE Mel B by tying the knot at one of London’s most famous cathedrals.
“You can visit the palaces for free,” Lisa tells us. “And I’m allowed to get married in St Paul’s!” Talking of weddings, Bradley Johnson – AKA Mandy’s son Vinny Dingle on the soap – announced last week he had tied the knot with the “love of his life” Sammie Johnstone in Nashville, with Lisa writing, “Love love love love and more love coming your way, congratulations… many years of happiness.”
But Lisa and her other half are clearly in no rush to put a ring on it themselves, as she tells us, “We feel like we’re married, I’m like the Gen-Zers – they’re not getting married these days.”
Reflecting on hitting the big 5-0, Lisa says she has also had an emotional realisation about her jungle stint last year, during which she struck up a close bond with comedian Ruby Wax – so much so that the pair became affectionately known as the ‘Dunny Divas’.
“I’m enjoying my fifties and then some. Someone said to me, ‘nifty at 50’, and I’m like, ‘yes!’ It’s just exciting and to be allowed to be my authentic self – the jungle taught me that so much,” she admits. “When I watched it back – because you don’t know what’s going to be shown, you don’t know what’s going to be seen – I was literally so genuinely blown away.
“I was like, ‘I’d be her friend,’ and that was me. I think for me to say that, and I mean it with such humility, it’s incredible.”
And despite a hectic year, Lisa has no intention of slowing down. She says, ”I never stop. Everyone says to me, ‘You never have a day off.’ I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I love being busy.”
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