Emmerdale legend Lisa Riley has opened up about the grief she endured after the death of her partner's mum and how she returned to the soap too soon.
Lisa Riley, 46, who has played Mandy Dingle since 1995, told our colleagues at The Mirror about the heartache her family has suffered recently. Partner Al's mum, known affectionately as ‘Nana’ to Lisa, died aged 79.
Lisa went back to work before the funeral and admitted it was the wrong thing to do. She commented: "It has been a treacherous time and it's still very raw in the family. In hindsight, when Nana passed I shouldn't have gone back to work so quickly.
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"But what I wanted to do was carry on regardless, and I had to really dig deep to shoot scenes. I now realise it was the wrong thing to do before the funeral."
Lisa added: "I have spoken openly before about how my parents' mums both died young and how I always called Al's mum, Nana. She sadly lost her battle with cancer and it's been horrible. The worst thing for me is when you see someone at the end in palliative care.
"It was identical to my own mum (Cathy who died in 2012) and it brought all those memories back. Al's mum was like a second mum to me and we were all incredibly close."
Lisa has previously praised her Emmerdale colleagues for offering their support to her and her family through such a difficult time.
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