Lisa Riley’s Emmerdale character Mandy Dingle is undoubtedly one of the ITV soap’s most iconic creations.
Lisa Riley, 45, originally from Bury, first played Mandy Dingle back in 1995. Lisa left Emmerdale in 2001 and returned to the soap in 2019.
The character of Mandy, who hails from Emmerdale’s famous Dingle clan, has been involved in a number of big storylines and, of course, has been no stranger to romance.
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Paddy Kirk was a long-running love interest while show villain Paul Ashdale was another. Mandy Dingle has also provided lots of comic relief.
We are going to take a step back in time and take a look at Lisa’s wilderness years away from Emmerdale and what you got up to. See if you can remember some of these roles she had and reality TV appearances Lisa made.
Firstly, you might recall, Lisa presented ITV clip show You’ve Been Framed between 1998 and 2002 - taking over from Jeremy Beadle. At its peak, under Lisa’s guidance, the programme was tallying 13m viewers per episode.
Lisa appeared as Rebecca Patterson in Kay Mellor’s drama Fat Friends. While she also had a small recurring part as Tina Allen in BBC school drama Waterloo Road.
In 2012, Lisa became one of many Emmerdale stars who appeared in Strictly Come Dancing. The acting star partnered with Robin Windsor with the pair exiting the dance contest at the semi final stage.
Before her Emmerdale return, Lisa was a panellist on ITV discussion programme Loose Women. She also starred in BBC drama Age Before Beauty as Tina Reegan, with the star appearing alongside Robson Green and Sue Johnston, as well as Three Lives - a drama based on the harrowing real life story of the Rochdale grooming gangs.
Many are delighted Lisa is back in Emmerdale as Mandy Dingle. We all hope she remains in the soap entertaining us for years to come.
