Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley has opened up about not having any children.
Lisa, who is 49, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap. The legendary actress has been with her partner Al since 2014.
The star doesn’t have any children and recently, Lisa opened up about her journey with IVF and how she eventually came to the conclusion that becoming a mother wasn’t ‘meant to be’.
During Tuesday’s episode of Loose Women, Lisa spoke honestly about prioritising her career for many years, and how when she decided to try and fall pregnant with Al, she realised she wasn’t able to.
‘I’ve spoken a lot, about me personally, being a catholic, it drummed into us, you don’t use contraception and you don’t have sex before marriage’, she explained.
‘That was in my head a lot, then later in life, career, I did chose my career, apps weren’t available then to look at your cycle, I waited… waited… found the right person in Al, when it came to the time of trying, I couldn’t fall pregnant.
‘I would have given everything in my life to have had a child.’
Detailing more about her experiences with IVF, Lisa added: ‘I wasn’t that lucky, I tried everything until the point where Al turned to me and he literally said “You have to stop all the IVF treatment because it’s diminishing you, it’s taking your personality away, you’re trying to hard”.
‘Sometimes in life, it’s not meant to be. I have to sit with you girls here today knowing that.
‘However I am very lucky, because I am a family unit. My nephew and my niece, they are a big part of me.’
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Lisa went on to tell the Loose Women panel that she is happy with her life now, but she also has to ‘find peace’ with the fact becoming a mum didn’t work out for her.
‘Yeah I am happy, but also, I have to be happy. I’m happy when I see all my friends getting pregnant at work at Emmerdale.
‘I’m over moon for them, but there is always going to be that little, little, scuff in the back of my head going “It didn’t quite work out for me”, and I have to find peace in that.
‘Thank God I’ve got Al, because you do that together.’
Lisa’s Emmerdale character Mandy Dingle is currently away from the village helping Tina Dingle.
The exit storyline aired to tie in with Lisa’s trip to Australia, to take part in last year’s series of I’m A Celebrity.
