The Emmerdale actress was supported by fans as she returned to filming after a brief hiatus as she jetted out for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Lisa plays Mandy Dingle in the long-running soap (Image: ITV)
Emmerdale favourite Lisa Riley has announced her return to the soap after her stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
The actress, who plays Mandy Dingle, jetted to Australia last month to join fellow campmates including Aitch, Angry Ginge, Shona McGarty, Martin Kemp and Alex Scott in the jungle.
After courageously tackling Ant and Dec’s gruelling bushtucker trials, Lisa became the eighth star to leave the camp, and has now headed back to work at the ITV soap.
She posted a video of her rainy walk to ITV’s studios, declaring: “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.
“Here we go, back to work, back to Emmerdale, where I belong,” reports the Daily Star.
Lisa has returned to Emmerdale (Image: ITV)
“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!”
Fans rallied behind Lisa, including fellow soap star and I’m A Celebrity campmate Shona McGarty, who responded with red heart emojis.
“Have a great day back at work,” one admirer commented, whilst another added: “This series of the jungle was like no other, no political talk or fighting. It was just nice and refreshing to see a group of strangers become friends. You seem like one of the world’s most genuinely lovely people x.”
Lisa appeared on I’m A Celebrity this year (Image: ITV)
A third remarked: “Bet that feels strange and great all in one.”
This follows Lisa’s revelation that her I’m A Celebrity experience was “everything I wanted it to be and so much more”.
However, she did admit to experiencing a low point and feeling “alone” and “vulnerable” at one stage in camp, seeking solace from her late mother to help her through it.
She confided to The Mirror: “I sat there on my own, and I had a little word with my mum. I spoke to all my angels up there – I’m so blessed – but especially her.
The actress previously discussed her experience in the jungle (Image: Getty Images for the NTA’s)
“I was like, ‘mum, I need some strength. I need to get through. I’m struggling, and I am finding things really hard’.”
She remembered the aftermath of participating in the fish gut challenge, which was the “toughest time” she faced, adding: “I felt alone, vulnerable….the challenge probably takes it out of you, and the feeling that you’ve got to do well, you’ve got to provide.”
Recalling returning to camp after the trial, she continued: “We’d left the camp so quickly that morning, I hadn’t prepared any clean clothes. I had nothing. Everything I had was saturated.
“So 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.”