Emmerdale star Lisa Riley opens up on Mandy Dingle’s upcoming wedding to Paddy Kirk and while there’s trouble ahead for the couple, viewers are in store for a spectacular dress
Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle, portrayed by Lisa Riley, is all set to walk down the aisle with her beloved Paddy Kirk, but there’s trouble brewing as her risque business venture threatens to come to light on the big day. Lisa Riley spills the beans about Mandy’s enchanting wedding dress, chuckling over the sequin saga. “The laugh we had with those crystal sequins, they were everywhere!” she says. “I literally brought them home in my bra, in my knickers, they were all over the house. And Al was going ‘where have all these sequins come from?'”
She adds, “Everywhere I went, I sparkled, so, it’s incredible. I can’t thank Val [Emmerdale’s in-house dressmaker] enough, she’s a genius.” Lisa goes on to detail how the dress influenced the entire look. “With the makeup, we wanted to move with the times, so we looked at TikTokers and we’ve emulated the sequins and iridescence with the look. Mandy has a beautiful crown and I’ve got more hair than any race horse.”
Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle has resorted to desperate measures to raise money before her wedding (Image: ITV)
“The highlight for me,” Lisa reveals, “was ditching the painful stilettos for Buffalo Spice Girl trainers to maintain my height during filming. So I didn’t have to wear the stilettos at all! Even for the photoshoots, I’m in the trainers.” She fondly recalls the best compliment she received about her bridal outfit. “The best reaction to the dress was by lovely Bella (James) who plays Eve Dingle. She said ‘you look like a fairytale princess’ and that was exactly what we wanted.”
“It’s not a dress I would have, no!” admits Lisa, who is engaged to her long-term partner, Al. “But it’s so Mandy Dingle.”
Mandy and Paddy (portrayed by Dominic Brunt) have had an on-and-off relationship for years. However, Lisa feels that they were always meant to be together. “When I returned to the show six years ago, it was inevitable that Mandy and Paddy would reunite. They are best friends and soulmates, he adores her chaos. She can be eccentric, but he just smiles at Mandy and says ‘well, that’s my girl.'”
Mandy is trying everything to raise money for her honeymoon (Image: ITV)
The build-up to the wedding has been relatively uneventful, but days before the big day, everything is thrown into uncertainty. Mandy’s busy with her new side gig as a financial dominatrix, where she humiliates men for money in an attempt to clear her debts, when she’s discovered by none other than her future father-in-law, Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards).
“When he discovers what’s going on, Bear wants to tell Paddy,” reveals Lisa. “And Mandy’s worried about how Paddy will react. There’s a significant misunderstanding of what the job entails because when you hear the word ‘dominatrix’, it can be misinterpreted.”
“Honestly, I respect Mandy for it. It’s a real girl power move and the reason Mandy is doing this is so she and Paddy can have their honeymoon to Venice that they had 25 years ago, which was one of the best times of their lives. Mandy Dingle is a survivor and this is her surviving at whatever the cost.” On the day of the wedding, Mandy is still under the impression that Bear has kept her dominatrix alter ego a secret from Paddy. However, when Paddy finds out, he declares he doesn’t want to marry Mandy. It’s then up to his best friend, Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), to try and convince him otherwise.
