Actress Lisa Riley admits in the past she was the hunter in relationships but has found her perfect match and foil in the calming influence of her fiance Al.
The Emmerdale star says he knows just how to reign in the boundless energy she sometimes shares with her soap character Mandy Dingle.
“In my previous relationships, I was always the hunter, out looking for a man,” Lisa, 46, explains. But she met musician Al nine years ago when she was not looking for love.
“I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true that when you’re not looking, love can land on your doorstep. I’m proof of that,” she says.
“I’d finished Strictly Come Dancing, I was loving life and enjoying seeing my friends. There was a lot going on – I’d just lost my Mum – and another relationship wasn’t on my radar.
“I was hugely guarded when we first met, but how wrong I was! The great thing was, he didn’t know who I was, so he didn’t give a crap if I was a lollypop lady or working on the bins.”
Their compatibility can be summed up by a recent day out with her two young nephews and niece.
“We went to a trampoline park, then we went bowling and out for lunch and then we went to an arcade,” Lisa recalls. “We were out from ten in the morning until seven.
“Loads of people were coming up for selfies and I was joking with them all. Al said, ‘Will you just please have your lunch, you’re not working today.’
“And my eldest nephew turned to him and said, ‘How do you put up with her!’ But Al would never change me. He loves that I’m bonkers and full of beans and useless at sitting still and I love how relaxed he is.
“We complement each other completely. I’m volume ten and he’s volume three, so he turns me down to a five!”
Lisa and Al, who live in Yorkshire, met through friends when she was 37 and at the time she had begun to doubt if she would ever find Mr Right.
A popular star on our screens since she was 19, Lisa left Emmerdale in 2001 to take over You’ve Been Framed! from Jeremy Beadle, at the time one of the most popular series on TV, with audiences of up to 19million.
The home movies show brought her even more fame, but the downside was that her trusting and joyful nature left her unable to find genuine men who liked her purely for herself.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who like what comes with the fact that I’m ‘Lisa Riley’ and they’re not with me for the right reasons,” she says.
During her 20s she found herself cheated on and betrayed by boyfriends who sold stories, and when she met Al, she had decided to embrace being single. But fate had other plans. They got engaged four years ago, but are in no rush to tie the knot.
“It’s not terribly important to either of us,” she says. “We’re already as happy as it’s possible to be.”
The same cannot be said for Mandy Dingle, who has yet to find her Mr Right after years of failed attempts.
Viewers have seen her growing close again to Paddy ( Dominic Brunt ) after the breakdown of his relationship with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter).
After sharing a bottle of wine, they ended up tumbling into bed together. But to Mandy’s horror, Paddy then went missing and when he returned it was clear he had hit rock bottom.
In distressing scenes aired this week, he seemingly makes amends with people, but tragically he is saying his veiled goodbyes as he plans to take his own life.
Lisa, who returned to Emmerdale in 2019, enjoyed a first stint as Mandy on the ITV show from 1995 to 2001.
But she says: “I should have left the show earlier, because I just didn’t have enough time to do everything. I spread myself too thinly. Now, things are so different. I know that when my head hits the pillow at night, I’ve given 110% to everything I’ve done that day.”
Lisa gave up alcohol seven years ago, which she credits with turning her life, and energy levels, around.
“Giving up drink has given me focus on what matters to me and helped me to be the best version of myself,” she says. “None of us know how long we’ve got left, but I want to be proud of everything I do. That’s what feeds me.
“The only person I have to make happy in my life is me.”
- Emmerdale is on ITV1 on weekdays at 7.30pm.
* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
