Lisa Riley from Emmerdale opens up about her late mum ahead of I’m A Celebrity.

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Since arriving in Queensland, Australia earlier this week, Lisa Riley has been assigned a 24-hour chaperone to look after her, as thoughts of her late mum Cath remain constantly on her mind.

Emmerdale star Lisa Riley can’t stop thinking about her late mum ahead of her I’m A Celebrity stint.

Since arriving in Queensland, Australia earlier this week, she has been assigned a 24-hour chaperone, with thoughts of her mum Cath never far from her mind. For Lisa, being so far from home has strangely felt comforting, keeping her close to those cherished memories.

“It’s been lovely just talking about my mum and how proud she would be,” she admitted.
“I can’t help but feel that maybe it’s my mum in heaven sending me a message to do the show. She would be saying: ‘Go on, knock them dead and just have a laugh.’”

Lisa and her mum were incredibly close, speaking at least 10 times a day on the phone before Cath passed away in 2012 from breast cancer that had spread to her pelvis, ovaries, and pancreas. She was just 57, and the loss is still deeply felt.

“While my mum would be thrilled at the idea of me doing the jungle, I can also imagine her sitting there at nine o’clock in front of the TV, being frantically worried about me,” Lisa said.

“But she knows that I am a very headstrong person.”

Lisa’s confidence comes from three decades in the entertainment industry, with a career spanning Emmerdale, Waterloo Road, Three Girls, and a memorable run on Strictly Come Dancing. She acknowledges that the jungle will be a very different challenge, but she believes in herself.

“I’ve been in this industry since I was 13, and now I’m 49. I’ve never been out of work. As a woman, to say that if I can last this long in such a tough industry, I should be able to handle the Australian jungle.”

Another person who immediately came to mind when she signed up for the show was her best friend and Strictly dance partner Robin Windsor, who sadly passed away last year at 44. His absence remains a painful void for her.

“Robin always wanted to do the show, and he thought I was crazy for saying no all these years,” she said.
“He would have said, ‘You’d be f****** hilarious.’”

“I know he’s definitely watching over me; he would be beaming with pride. He just wants me to be myself and the best friend I was to him.”

Lisa grew up in Bury, Greater Manchester, and now lives in Yorkshire with her musician fiancé, Al.

They got engaged seven years ago, though Lisa has previously said marriage is unlikely.

She shared: “The very last thing he said to me was, ‘Just be you.’ But then, when I was alone, he also said, ‘Good God, you’re going to be having a lot of beans.’

“Think Celia Imrie in Traitors and you’ll put two and two together. People are going to be very aware of my… digestive moments. But it’s the girl he loves, and I love him.”

Lisa isn’t concerned about appearing on screen barefaced or with humidity-frazzled hair.

“I love looking raw on TV… look at me in Three Girls or Waterloo Road. I’m not a vain actress. If anything, I’m the opposite.

“So when people say, ‘Oh my God, you won’t have fake lashes on,’ and my hair’s going to be a frizz bomb, I don’t care. People will see that I’ll look a complete mess, and I’ll embrace it because that’s the truth.”

She also doesn’t see stripping off in camp as a problem.

Lisa said: “I’m very body positive.

“The way I look in a swimsuit isn’t like how others might look, but I’m completely comfortable in my own skin. I hope people see that as a sign of how authentic I am. I’ve got bits that wobble, and I love those parts.”

When asked what could get under her skin in camp, she replied: “I cannot stand disloyal people.”

“Loyalty is in my blood. You’d see Mandy Dingle take over — my full Dingle side would come to the forefront.”