Lisa Riley has vowed to marry her partner Al if she reaches the final of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. The Emmerdale star, 49, is appearing on the 25th series of the ITV show, which begins on Sunday night.
Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle, said she and Al have been discussing marriage for some time. “If I get to the final, then yes, it would make sense this year that I’d come back with that and a wedding ring!” she said. The couple have been together for 10 years, though Riley has never revealed Al’s full surname.
The actress was signed up for the show in April for a reported £95,000 and kept it secret from all but her co-star Dominic Brunt and producer Laura Shaw. They used the codename “Cost-Co” to refer to the adventure. “It’s been the best kept secret in the memory of man,” she said.
Riley has already started preparing by giving up caffeine. “I’m on day eight with no caffeine,” she said. “I drink coffee like it’s water. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke but I need coffee in my life.” She also plans to lose weight in the jungle, saying: “Everyone loses weight in the jungle.”
Despite her character Mandy’s vanity, Riley insists she has no such concerns. “There is not one morsel of vanity in my body,” she said. “I’m going to look minging. I’m going to look horrendous.” However, she admitted she is not keen on the standard-issue jungle boots, joking: “I look like a Rochdale bus driver.”
The hardest part for Riley will be being separated from Al and her nieces and nephews. “Everyone talks about the trials, but for me the hardest thing will be not speaking to my loved ones,” she said. “That’s going to be insanely hard for me.”
