Emmerdale favourite Lisa Riley has confirmed she is back on the set of the long-running ITV soap, following her recent appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.
From the Jungle Back to the Dales
The actress, who plays the beloved character Mandy Dingle, took a brief hiatus from filming last month to travel to Australia for the reality TV show. She joined fellow celebrities including rapper Aitch, content creator Angry Ginge, former EastEnders star Shona McGarty, and legends Martin Kemp and Alex Scott in the camp.
After bravely facing several of Ant and Dec's infamous bushtucker trials, Riley became the eighth contestant to be eliminated from the competition. Now, she has swapped the jungle for the familiar surroundings of the Emmerdale village.
A Rainy Return and Warm Welcome
Marking her first day back, Riley shared a video on social media of a wet walk to the ITV studios. In the clip, she exclaimed: "It's a wet morning, and she's not going back to the jungle, she's going for her first day back to work after the jungle."
She added with evident enthusiasm: "Here we go, back to work, back to Emmerdale, where I belong. Thank you jungle, you're amazing, but do you know what happens now? I've got to put Mandy Dingle's tabard back on! It's been a while!"
Her post was met with an outpouring of support from fans and colleagues. Fellow soap star and campmate Shona McGarty responded with a string of red heart emojis. One supporter wrote: "Have a great day back at work," while another reflected on the series: "This series of the jungle was like no other... It was just nice and refreshing to see a group of strangers become friends."
Reflecting on a Tough Jungle Experience
While Riley has said her time on I'm A Celebrity was "everything I wanted it to be and so much more," she also opened up about facing difficult moments. She described feeling "alone" and "vulnerable" at one point, particularly after enduring the gruelling fish gut challenge, which she called her "toughest time" in camp.
In an emotional revelation, she told The Mirror she sought comfort from her late mother during this low point. "I sat there on my own, and I had a little word with my mum. I spoke to all my angels up there... I was like, 'mum, I need some strength. I need to get through. I'm struggling,'" she shared.
Recalling the aftermath of the trial, she explained she returned to camp soaked and unprepared. "I sat there smelling like a wet fish market nine times over and covered in green stuff in the heat. I was sitting on the bottom step of the Telegraph all on my own. I just wanted time out," she said.
Now, with her jungle adventure behind her, Lisa Riley is firmly back where her fans love to see her. Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode every Thursday.
