Emmerdale star Lisa Riley has spoken out against false online pregnancy rumours, sharing her distress with fans on Instagram. The actress, known for playing Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap for more than 26 years, posted AI-generated images of herself holding fake ultrasound scans and cuddling a baby, alongside a photograph of her smiling next to her fiancé, Al.
Clearly upset, she captioned the post with multiple angry face emojis before writing: "THIS HAS TO STOP!!!!! It's absolutely horrendous!!! Saying that I'm pregnant again!! How is this allowed? It makes me so upset… what world do we live in that these lies, and more lies, are allowed to be put in the public domain? I'm sick to death of it now!!!" She concluded the message with more angry face emojis.
Past struggles with conception
The rumours are especially painful for the 50-year-old, who has previously opened up about her difficulties conceiving. Engaged to Al since 2018, having met in 2014 at a Strictly Come Dancing tour event, Lisa was told by medical experts that it was unlikely she would ever conceive, even through IVF.
Speaking to The Mirror in 2018, she revealed: "Finding out that I was unlikely to get pregnant was a blow. But I refuse to be defined by that. People think women need to have a child to complete themselves, but that just isn't the case. I feel that I have taken ownership of the situation now. I have seen other people go through years and years of IVF treatment and the stress and pressure that creates."
Decision not to pursue IVF
Lisa explained that she and Al had decided not to go down the IVF route, saying: "I don't want to do that. We have decided now that we aren't going to go down that route, and now that we have made that decision, I could not be happier."
She also described the physical toll of treatment, confessing that her body was being 'pumped' with hormones to get an egg reading, which impacted her drastically. "It messes with your head, and I just couldn't do that to myself anymore. The past few months have been really hard, emotionally draining, and we just decided that enough was enough. I tried it, I gave it a go, and it didn't work."
Despite not having children, the soap star has reiterated that she is happy with her life, as she remains close with her niece and nephews.
