LISA RILEY got engaged five years ago – but is not worrying about setting a date and making wedding plans.
Instead, the Emmerdale actress reveals she is keen to remain blissfully unmarried with her fiancé Al.
“If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” she says with a laugh. “We’re very happy as we are and while I love wearing the beautiful ring Al gave me, I’ve never been the kind of girl who longs for a big, flouncy day with a horse and carriage.
“That kind of thing gives me the ick, to be honest.
"I’m never going to change my name, so really, what would be the difference?
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"We call each other husband and wife, and have been together for nine years.
“All my friends, family and work colleagues adore Al and it’s the same with me and his family and friends.”
But there is another reason the couple are not planning their nuptials any time soon — neither of their mums would be there.
Lisa’s mum Cath died in 2012, and Al’s mum, fondly known to Lisa as Nana, passed last year.
Lisa, 47, says: “We’ve lost both our mums and when it comes to things like weddings, you do it for the other people.
“I don’t think I could cope with a wedding day without my mum.
“In Al, I have found someone who loves me for me and vice versa, which I never thought would happen. That’s all that matters.
“As long as we’re happy, we don’t need wedding rings on our fingers. What difference would rings make?
“I wouldn’t be able to wear a wedding band very much anyway because I’ve always got my character Mandy Dingle’s blingy rings on.”
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Although they are devoted to each other, Lisa and American musician Al don’t live in each other’s pockets.
She says: “Being independent in my relationship is very important to me.
“I cannot do 24/7, 365 days a year. This works for some people and that’s absolutely great but it gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Lisa says having a bit of distance keeps the spark alive between them, saying, “I go off and do my thing, and it’s the same for Al.
"After a week or so apart, it’s electric when we get together again. I’m still saying that after nine years as a couple.
“We’re very different personalities. I’m like a spinning, fizzing firework while Al is extremely laid back, a bit like a lilo in a swimming pool. It really works, though.
“He’s very proud of me but doesn’t give a damn about what I do for a living.
“I know he wants to be with me for me, not because I’m an actress on one of the country’s most popular TV shows.”
In terms of expanding their family, Lisa is very open about the fact that the couple tried for a baby, but it was not to be.
After a round of unsuccessful IVF treatment, the couple decided to make their peace with trying and get on with their lives.
Lisa says: “Finding out that I was unlikely to get pregnant was a blow but I refuse to be defined by that.
“I have seen other people go through years and years of IVF treatment and the stress and pressure that creates.
“I’m so blessed with my wonderful nephews and niece, and my godchildren.
"We are the naughty aunty and uncle and long may that continue.
“We’re lucky enough to play a big part in the lives of my brother’s kids Jake, Josh and Everlyn, and hopefully we’ll be the people they confide in as they get older.
“I may not have 2.4 kids and a dog but I have a beautiful life. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m so lucky.”
Lisa adds: “People think women need to have a child to complete themselves, but that just isn’t the case.
"We make the most of what we have, we love travelling and recently came back from New York.”
And while her alter ego Mandy Dingle loves a drink, Lisa has not touched a drop of alcohol in eight years and says that life is so much better without it.
She gave up after realising her drinking was in danger of getting out of control.
Lisa says: “I don’t miss it. People say to me, ‘That must be really boring’. But it’s not boring and neither am I.
“I have a very fun and full life — a life that is so much better without alcohol. I don’t think I’ll ever drink again.
“It’s fun acting drunk when I’m being Mandy. I’ve been drunk enough times in my life to remember what it feels like.
“The red wine on set is actually grape juice, which is horrendous. It gives you a breath of death, not good for snogging scenes.”
Lisa joined the long-running ITV soap in 1995 but then left in 2001.
She returned sporadically but rejoined as a regular cast member in 2019.
Lisa says: “The cast and crew — everyone involved in the show, in fact — feel like another family. It’s my Emmerdale family.”
And like a real family, her colleagues intervened when they could see Lisa was struggling after the death of Al’s mum.
She says: “They knew that I went through personal trauma.
“I came back to work four days between her passing and the funeral, and I shouldn’t have.”
“I would go to do a take and everybody could see I’d been crying.
"Playing Mandy is so full on, I can’t be upset doing it.
“After the funeral, the executives gave me some time off, to help me and so I could support Al.
“I feel so blessed to work here. I love what I do each and every day.”
Lisa is particularly enthusiastic about Mandy’s current storyline, which has seen her get back together with her ex-husband Paddy Kirk, played by Dominic Brunt.
The couple married in the soap in 1999 but got divorced two years later.
She says: “Dom and I are the best of mates.
“When we are being Paddy and Mandy, it’s like we are in our twenties again, just like it was when we first worked together in Emmerdale in the Nineties.
“Everyone’s so happy that they have ended up together again.
"Paddy and Mandy are a lovely couple who give off this warm, fuzzy feeling.”
But not everything is quite going to plan and viewers will see them struggle with the intimate side of their relationship.
While Mandy thinks this is because she is doing something wrong, or that he no longer likes her in that way, the reality is Paddy’s serious mental health issues have affected his sex life.
Lisa says: “We’ve worked very closely with the charity Andy’s Man Club, a suicide prevention charity for men.
“Some of the wives I met told me the physical side of a relationship often suffers as a result of the male partner’s depression.
"This happens with Mandy and Paddy when they first announce they’re officially an item again.
“Talking and communication are so important, and fortunately Paddy and Mandy have good mates in the form of Marlon and Rhona.”
And while she may be in no rush to arrange her own wedding, the thought of Mandy and Paddy getting married again is something the actress can get on board with.
She says: “The crew keep teasing me about a New Year’s wedding for the couple.
“It’s what the viewers want but we’ll have to see what happens.
“If they do get hitched, Mandy will be in the biggest, most outrageous dress imaginable. Of course she will.”
