Emmerdale star who is known for playing Mandy Dingle, has taken to social media to mark an important milestone with fans after quitting drinking nine years ago and losing 10 stone
Much-loved Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley has been inundated with supportive messages this week as she celebrated a significant personal achievement. The acclaimed soap icon, known for her portrayal of the vivacious Mandy Dingle, has been a fixture on Emmerdale since her debut in 1995 and remains a pivotal part of the show.
In recent episodes, she was at the heart of a gripping plot, having just said ‘I do’ to Paddy Kirk.
Lisa Riley is an Emmerdale legend
Off-screen, Lisa engages her followers with regular updates on Instagram, where she recently shared a particularly personal triumph: reaching nine alcohol-free years. Her heartfelt statement read: “9 YEARS SOBER TODAY.”
“9 years of filling my cup with anything other than alcohol…When I decided to go sober, I never knew how long it would last, feeling pressures from others as to why!!! Well here’s why…I feel FANTASTIC, I feel FREE, I don’t feel FAKE, I’m so much more HAPPY in my life, and I surround myself with POSITIVITY not diluted drivel and endless drama…To everyone (you know who you are) who support me constantly, I love you…cheers with a cup of tea.”
The post quickly went viral, earning thousands of likes and eliciting encouraging remarks from fellow Emmerdale star Karen Blick and TV’s Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid. Fans also expressed their support in the comments section, reports the Liverpool Echo.
One follower exclaimed: “Happy soberversary you ledge! ” while another added: “Awesome…congratulations lovely.” Lisa has previously spoken about the effects of giving up alcohol and said it helped her fitness journey as she went on to lose 10 stone.
Much-loved Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley has been inundated with supportive messages this week as she celebrated a significant personal achievement
Lisa has been open about the positive impact giving up alcohol had on her health transformation, revealing to the Daily Mirror back in 2016 that she kicked the habit after realizing the excessive “empty calories” from booze were hampering her fitness goals. She shared: “I realised there were lots of empty calories in booze so that is why I gave it up. If you add up through the week what I’d consume in alcohol calories it was mad.
“I used to come off stage and think I needed a drink to wind down, so that’d be maybe three bottles over the week. Then if I went out at the weekend with friends, and maybe did a Sunday lunch with my family, there’d be another few bottles there. It all added up.”
The decision to ditch alcohol became part of Lisa’s broader lifestyle overhaul – a move motivated by her need for a “comfort blanket” during the tough time following her mother’s death from cancer at 57.
Discussing her relationship with alcohol on the One For The Road podcast, Lisa expressed: “I don’t think that I would ever wear the badge and say, [I was] an alcoholic. I truly don’t think I was. I think I was very very [dependent] on drink and as some people might take an antidepressant as it were, that was mine.
“It was my comfort blanket and I always say that.”
But it wasn’t just cutting out alcohol that spurred her weight loss; Lisa also credits her stint on the tenth season of Strictly Come Dancing for sparking her health drive, which led her to shrink from a size 28 to 14 through regular exercise and dietary changes.
Yet, the dramatic weight loss resulted in her having to deal with one and a half stone of excess skin that required surgical removal. She told the Mirror: “People forget how gigantic I was. With the skin removal I lost twelve stone, one pound.
“The surgeon chopped off one stone, four pounds. Since then my weight has more or less stayed the same. Now, for lunch I eat either a bowl of soup or a plain jacket potato.
“I’m never going to be size 28 again. I look at pictures of me back then and think: ‘Who’s that girl?’ She doesn’t exist any more.”
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
