Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley has snubbed I’m A Celeb for years despite big money deals

Emmerdale favourite Lisa Riley is finally considering a stint on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! after years of ITV bosses trying to nab her for the show.

The 47-year-old actress, who plays Mandy Dingle on Emmerdale, says ITV bosses have been trying to get her into the jungle "every year", but she's always turned them down. But she's now starting to change her mind and has even revealed what kind of tricks she'd be pulling in camp.

Lisa, who is promoting Sue Ryder's A Sense of Grief campaign, told Daily Star: "They ask me every year. They dangle that big carrot every year. I've always said "no", but the older I get… I'm 47. I always go 'Corr, I'm getting old'. But in my head I always feel like I'm 19, I'm never going to change who I am. But maybe if there was a milestone like my 50th. Then maybe."

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READ MORE: Want more TV? Daily Star has just the thing for you!

Lisa is confident she'd be able to deal with anything the jungle throws at her, too, even if it means getting locked in a tank of cockroaches. She added: "But I think I'd be quite boring, because I think I could cope. If you ask anyone at Emmerdale, I'm a coper.

"I don't know if that's good telly. I'd be my usual confident self. I'd be doing dance routines around the fire. I think you put me in a tank of cockroaches, I could probably do that okay. I don't know, but you never know, but I'm certainly not going in this year, that's for a fact!"

She previously told Daily Star that she's turned down other TV jobs because she loves playing Mandy on Emmerdale so much. "I love playing Mandy so much, that’s why I keep turning down other good roles. They offer me I’m A Celebrity every year and every year I say ‘no’.

Admitting she'd get bored in the jungle, she went on: "It’s not because of all the creepy crawlies or the challenges, I actually wouldn’t mind those. I would just be so bored in there. I have so much energy from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Being sat in camp all day would send me crazy. I would need to be stimulated all the time."

The new series of I'm A Celeb is set to air later this month. The line-up is yet to be revealed.

Lisa is a Celebrity Ambassador for Sue Ryder's A Sense of Grief campaign. The campaign was launched to raise awareness of the huge impact our senses have on the grieving process.

Lisa said: "I often have sensory memories of my wonderful mum which can trigger feelings of grief and Sue Ryder's research shows that this is far from uncommon in the bereavement process. I want to encourage people caught in these moments to be able to talk about them and acknowledge how tough they can be. I hope that this campaign will not only help those who are grieving, but also provide a framework of understanding for those who are supporting the bereaved."

Lisa, who lost her mum Cath in 2012, says there are multiple sensory triggers that remind her of her mum. She said: "My mum used to make me veggie toad in the hole, but she'd often burn it. She'd always say, ‘if you ate normal sausages, I wouldn't burn them!’”

Another is the colour yellow. “My mum always wore yellow, and she had a yellow aura which is associated with happy and sociable people. Everyone at her funeral wore yellow, hankies, ties, fascinators – whenever I see it, I think of her and feel her with me.”

Lisa Riley is supporting Sue Ryder’s new campaign, A Sense of Grief. To find out more, please visit sueryder.org/senses.

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