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March 14, 2025 69 mins
Lisa Riley plays the iconic character Mandy Dingle on ITV soap Emmerdale.

Mandy was involved in a breast cancer storyline last year, which explored family history and genetics, and sex and intimacy after cancer. In this episode, Lisa tells us about the research and collaboration with Breast Cancer Now behind the scenes to get the details of the storyline right.

Lisa also sadly lost her mum to breast cancer in 2012. She opens up about how that affected her mental health and why she made the choice to live her life without undergoing genetic testing. Lisa also shares how she lives her life with positivity and humour in the face of adversity, and the importance of her work with Breast Cancer Now as Ambassador of the charity.

You can follow Lisa Riley on Instagram @lisajaneriley
Sign up to wear it pink now!
Find out more about being breast aware with TLC.

We’re Breast Cancer Now, the research and support charity. However you’re experiencing breast cancer, we’re here. For information and support, visit our website breastcancernow.org or phone our free helpline on 0808 800 6000 (UK only).

Every episode is available to watch or listen to on the Breast Cancer Now website. You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:
00:09 Laura's thoughts on the episode ahead
01:42 Introducing Lisa Riley
02:42 Lisa talks about her mum Cath's breast cancer diagnosis
06:01 Cath's hair loss experience
06:58 Dealing with a cancer diagnosis
09:50 Cath's attitude towards her illness
13:32 How losing her mum affected Lisa
18:48 Lisa turns to family and friends to cope with her loss
21:01 Remembering Cath and continuing her legacy
23:41 Lisa reflects on 30 years of Emmerdale
26:00 Outlining Emmerdale's recent breast cancer storyline
26:58 Getting the details of breast cancer right in a soap
31:02 Discussing the BAFTA nomination for the breast cancer storyline
34:20 Lisa speaks about her decision not to be tested for breast cancer gene mutations
38:13 How Emmerdale's breast cancer storyline affected Lisa
43:01 Lisa's anxiety around having scans
44:42 The importance of being breast and body aware
49:42 How Lucy and Lisa prepared for Emmerdale's breast cancer storyline
52:18 The role of a soap opera dealing with serious issues like breast cancer
56:31 Lisa discusses where she draws the line between her public and private life
58:38 Lisa's work with Breast Cancer Now and the Wear It Pink fundraising campaign
1:04:37 How to get involved with fundraising for Breast Cancer Now
1:06:06 Why Lisa supports Breast Cancer Now
1:07:40 What it means to Lisa Riley to live well
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This podcast contains the personalstories, opinions and experiences of its

(00:04):
speakers, rather than those of BreastCancer Now.
We took the podcast on the road to Leeds,very close to the Emmerdale set,
where Lisa Riley is filming her currentscenes.
I have never met Lisa before, but I thinkwhat struck me was that she's incredibly
down to earth and honest when she'stalking about her mother's diagnosis and

(00:26):
her experience of that.
Very emotional.
You will hear Lisa getting emotionalunderstandably about her mother's death
from breast cancer, which is still clearlysomething so, so raw to her.
But I think the fact that she was sohonest and open about that is something
that will resonate with a lot of people.
And one of the things that I think struckme was quite how much work goes on behind

(00:50):
the scenes in a soap like Emmerdale whenrecording a breast cancer storyline,
something that they poured so much loveand emotion into, but also so much
research.
They worked with the team at Breast CancerNow to make sure they got it right.
What really, really came across to me wasjust Lisa's boundless positivity and the

(01:11):
humour that she has always used to getthrough things in life.
And it is clear from everything she toldme about her mum, Cath, that all of that
comes from her mum.
So I'm sure that will shine through.
And just in general, it was an absolutebreath of fresh air speaking to Lisa.
She put me completely at ease,even though I was aware I was traveling up

(01:32):
to Leeds to interview a big celebrity.
And it was just an absolute joy to speakto her.
So I hope you enjoy this episode as muchas I did.
Today's guest is Lisa Riley, star of ourMuch-loved ITV soap, Emmerdale.
Lisa plays the iconic character MandyDingle.
If you're a fan of the show, you may knowMandy was involved in a breast cancer

(01:56):
storyline last year when her cousin,Chas Dingle, played by Lucy Pargeter,
was diagnosed.
Breast cancer is a subject close to Lisa'sheart for a number of reasons.
Lisa sadly lost her mum to breast cancerin 2012.
She later became an ambassador for BreastCancer Now, supporting the charity's

(02:16):
annual fundraising campaign, Wear It Pink.
Lisa has kindly found time in her verybusy filming schedule to talk to us about
her own family history of cancer and whatit was like to record storylines about
genetic testing and breast cancer on oneof our longest running TV soaps.
Lisa, thank you so much for joining us.

(02:37):
Thank you.
I want to miss it for the world.
Thank you.
So let's start with real life,Lisa.
So your mum, Cath, sadly passed away frombreast cancer when she was just 58 years
old.
Would you be able to tell us a little bitabout her diagnosis and treatment?
Yeah, I mean, I've publicly spoken aboutwhat happened to mum and how it's
affected, obviously, myself and all ourfamily.

(02:58):
But it all started with the fact,obviously, I was always filming and my
days off were so precious.
So every Friday, I would always,no matter where I was, if I was in London,
if I was in the North, in Scotland,I would always try and get back to Bury in
Lancashire, where my family, where I'mfrom originally, where my family still
live now.
So this particular day, it was Italiannight and mum got out the shower.

(03:20):
I ran, I was like, as usual, mum,I'm so sorry I'm late.
I've made it.
She's getting out the shower and her toweldropped.
And I was like, OK, I'm a woman.
I know.
I was like, what's that?
And she's like, oh, don't be so daft.
And I was like, what's that, mum?
She's like, oh, and really wanted to coverherself up so quickly.
And I was like, no, no, I want to see whatthat is.
And she's like, please stop beingdramatic.

(03:40):
Anyway, what I could see of mum's areola,it looked the best way, like a deflated
balloon.
That's what I always describe it as,like a balloon that needed air in it.
Like it was being sucked from the inside.
And she's like, it's nothing.
You're just being dramatic.
Well, me being me, I'm not being dramatic.
I want to get it sorted.
And I spoke to my dad really quickly.

(04:00):
My dad was like, as he does, was like,oh, it'll be nothing.
And so that was the Friday night.
She was with the oncologist on the Tuesdaymorning.
And I'm an actor, Laura.
I know how emotions are and some doctorscan't act.
You know, you probably know that yourselfand you can read them.
I can read people by the way they are.

(04:22):
And Mr. D'Souza, absolute, incredible,incredible man.
And I owe a lot to Mr. D'Souza.
And he just said, he said, right,Cath, we're going to have you in very,
very quickly.
And he says, I just know by looking at it,that was before a biopsy, everything,
you know, I knew it was going to be badnews.
The tumour was obviously at the front ofher breast.

(04:42):
And as we could see, it was, you know,it was sucking.
And that was what she, she was had.
And to this day, and I always say,and I say, don't be an ostrich,
please don't be an ostrich by putting yourhead in the sand and hope it's going to go
away in hoping that no one will see it.
I mean, where we are nowadays,whereas, you know, this is years ago with
my Mum.

(05:02):
And not that I think that Mum would havehad a longer life because I don't.
I really don't, knowing what I do know andhow much knowledge I have about oncology
and Breast Cancer Now.
But what I do know is with any form ofindentation she might have seen on the
areola, the beginning, maybe, you know,she wouldn't, she would have had more

(05:23):
years with us.
She did survive for 10 years before itcame back in the pancreas.
And from then on, I mean, she had the fullmastectomy.
She had all her lymph nodes removed.
And I think for Mum, losing her breastreally wasn't a problem.
And as you can probably tell, I play MandyDingle and me as me as well.
Everything's a joke.
And as a family, I got that from my Mum.
My Mum was full of beans, like energybeyond energy, from seven in the morning

(05:46):
till seven at night all the time.
And I've inherited that from my Mum fully.
And she got through it by being veryjovial and a lot of fun, even at the worst
times through her chemo and through herradiotherapy as well.
Um, but what I will say, when Mum lost herhair, that was worse than anything.

(06:07):
Oh, honestly, Laura, like, yeah,I can, I can see her now because work were
amazing.
They signed me off when she was goingthrough her first initial point of
treatment.
And yeah, she just, it absolutelycrucified her.
It crucified her losing her hair and evenher wound.
She wasn't bothered about it.
She refused to have a reconstruction,which is again, down to whatever anyone

(06:30):
wants.
That's there.
Mom didn't want one.
She said, she always made the joke.
She said that my dad preferred the otherone, you know, and that was her way of
getting through it.
She's like, my dad never liked that oneanyway.
Um, and so we, we stuck together as we didas a family and, um, and cherished her as
much as we could, but it was very,very quick.
Yeah.
And the chemo was just to see someone youlove go through that, you know,

(06:53):
day in, day out.
I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
I really wouldn't.
She lived for over 10 years from thatfirst diagnosis to when she died.
Did she have a period in the middle whereshe, you know, kind of got back to life
and, and living normally?
Fully.
Yeah.
I think she genuinely thought that she wasabsolutely fine.

(07:16):
It was, it was sort of from diagnosis ofthe secondary.
I remember her saying to me, and she saidto me, she went, just don't feel like
myself.
And then when she got her secondarydiagnosis, she was like, I knew it'd come
back.
And whether you, I don't know what thatfeels.
Hopefully fingers crossed.
I never will, but I know in her,she diminished Laura.

(07:38):
She really diminished in herself becauseI, sorry.
It's okay.
Just take your time.
I think she thought that she couldn'tfight anymore.
Yeah.
It's okay.
And I think my Mum and me, one thing she'stold me is that fight, no matter what it

(07:59):
is, whether it's your job, whether it'sthe public cancer.
Yeah.
She fought and like, she never,she would always say, there's someone
worse off than me.
When we were at the Christie, when she wascovered in wires and plugs and needles,
she was like, think of the kids in Africa.
And I was like, Mum, look, that's my momall over.

(08:20):
And I have that in me completely.
But at that time, she did.
And I think I really, for the first time,probably in all my life of my Mum,
my hero, my everything, I saw fear.
I saw fear.
She'd lost her dad.
And I think she'd lost her Mum very,very young.

(08:41):
My Nana, when I was, I wasn't very,I wasn't really young when my Nana died.
And I think she kind of was, she'd come toterms with the fact that she was going to
die.
And Mum being Mum was, it was more,what's Terry, my dad going to do?
What's Liam and Lisa going to do?
That's always the thought.
It's always for someone else.

(09:02):
I mean, that's the, that's the role of amom, isn't it?
Yeah.
Or the role of a woman even, you know,just thinking about everyone else.
I remember seeing the morning after she'dhad the mastectomy and she had a picture
of me and Liam next to her bed and Mr.Stewart, her oncologist and Christie came
in and he said, he said, you must feelterrible, Cath.

(09:23):
You must, he went, you must not feel likelaughing.
She's like, no, absolute nonsense.
I'm laughing.
I'm having fun today because of these two.
And that was it.
She said, you can pump me with as muchmedicine as you like.
She said, but I turn to my left and thatphotograph is the only medicine I need.
Sorry.
She sounds like an incredible woman.
You'd have loved her.
Yeah.
Everyone said once, always once met,never forgotten.

(09:45):
So hopefully I keep her legacy going.
That's, that's my job now.
Mr. Stewart, mum's oncologist.
He, he was unbelievably kept the familyinformed throughout everything.
And he wasn't, he wasn't kind of leadingus up at the wrong path in what was going
to happen because he was actually a maintutor at the Christie in Manchester,
which is like one of the biggest oncologyunits in the country.

(10:07):
I mean, we, we joke saying, if you want toget cancer, get it in the North because
you've got Christie's on your doorstep.
This is where I was in 2012 as well.
I also had my surgery at the Christie andmy chemotherapy at the Christie.
So it's actually sometimes makes me crywhen I think about the Christie,
when I think about my surgeon there.
So yeah.
Mum calls it her safe haven place.

(10:28):
Yeah, totally.
And as Mr. Stewart was a tutor,he said, Cath, he said, I'm not going to
tell any lies to you.
He said, on paper, you should be dead.
He said everything, the size of yourtumour, where it is spread.
Initially, he said, you defeat everymorsel of medical science.
And, and I do think that's mum's fight.

(10:48):
That's something that a medicine bottlecan't give you, you know?
And for that, I'm so proud of her.
I'm so proud of her.
And I remember when we had a fundraizerand Mr. Stewart stood on the, on the
lectern and he said, he said, this woman,he said, whatever I give her is nothing to
her.
And, and, and then for her to survive thena further 10 years.

(11:09):
She, she defied everything, but theChristie is, it is, it's a, it's a
special, you know, a special, specialplace.
It really is.
I think if I haven't been back there forover 10 years, but I think if I walked
through the door, I would cry.
It would be bringing out so many emotionsin me.
Yeah.
But it's an interesting point you touch onbecause there are, there are different
views about whether a person's positivityand attitude and their, like whether their

(11:34):
mental side contributes to their survival.
And there are some thoughts that I don'tthink there've been many studies on it,
but there are some thoughts that,that really does contribute.
And obviously that it's a very tricky onebecause you do get patients who say,
well, you know, does that mean because I'mupset and I'm, you know, I'm not coping
well with it, that I'm hindering my owntreatment.
And of course that's not the case.

(11:56):
It's, you know, your medical treatment isone thing.
And sometimes that fight, fight languagecan, can upset people as well.
But I mean, yeah, certainly, certainly forme getting through it with humour and
getting through it with a lightness andjust trying to see, see the good side as
well.
We've always, we've always done that as afamily, even like the devout, like I say

(12:20):
devout Catholic, I went to a devoutCatholic school, you know, and probably
very lapsed Catholic now.
I'll openly admit that.
But my Mum who was taught by nuns as well,we were always said like you never swear
in church and you never swear at a priest.
Okay.
So it was the morning Mum had had a lotof, a lot of morphine on the day and the
lovely nurses at the house because mompassed away at my home as she wanted that.

(12:44):
She wanted to be at my house with it.
And it was like, it was literally,we joke about it.
It was like a scene from The Sopranos,everyone at the bottom of the bed,
at the bottom of the bed.
And literally my dad said, we're going tohave to call the priest.
So father Paul, amazing.
He married my brother.
He married like all the family,all my nephews, my niece, all their,
all their Christenings.

(13:05):
And he stands at the top where Mum and myauntie Joyce was there putting a little
bit of orange cordial on Mum's lip.
And she turned around and she just went,what the **** are you doing there?
She swore at a priest.
And for this, to this day, like we haveliterally dined out on that story as a
family that the morning Mum actually diedthat she got to swear at a priest.
It's our favourite thing ever.

(13:26):
And again, that's that humour that throughtimes when you're broken, you're broken to
your core, you know, you speak to all myfamily and all my friends.
I look back now and they have all said tome as time now has gone past, we never
thought you would leave.
They call it like Lisa's Valley of Doom,but they never thought they were going to
get me back.
They all say that they'd lost me.

(13:48):
You know, what do you mean?
Because you were so broken from your Mum.
And so how did you, because you were inyour thirties then.
How did you come back from that?
I mean, I know you, you never get over it,but how, how has your life changed and how
have you felt better since then?
So Mum passed the last week of July.
And in the June, I got a call from the BBCsaying, we'd like to interview you for

(14:13):
Strictly Come Dancing.
And take a minute, take a minute if youneed to.
And they said, will you come to London andmeet the bosses?
Now I was like, wow, Strictly ComeDancing, this is unreal.
And knowing that I'd gone to, you know,to drama school, to dance school.

(14:35):
But I think fundamentally people looked atmy size and was like, all right,
she's going to be another Anne Widdecombe.
She's going to be the comedy one.
I was like, okay, I'll be fine with that.
So I had the meeting and you do a trialdance and they were like, wow,
she, she really can dance, you know?
And it's proof that, you know,you should never ever look at someone and
judge anyone because and think you'regoing to be something.
Yeah.
So I got back for the meeting and our momwas there and she was in bed and she's

(14:59):
like, you're gleaming, you're glowing.
And I was like, Mum, it went really,really well.
I said, but I just, no, I don't know.
And she was like, darling, don't worryabout the dancing.
Just go out there and just be you.
And it was those three words, just be you.
Anyway, the inevitable happened in theJuly and I got the call.
But of course you cannot tell anybody,but I couldn't let my Mum die not knowing

(15:19):
that I was going to be on Strictly,even though I felt she was with me the
whole way.
And every week on Strictly, I went outthere and I was like, I'm doing this for
you, Mum, I'm doing this for you.
So what better therapy than doingStrictly.
But then Strictly ended in the Februaryafter I'd done the tour.
And that's when I was just like,there was no way out for me.

(15:41):
So Strictly kind of kept you afloat for aperiod and then it really hit.
Completely.
Yeah.
And I didn't have, because I've beenworking solidly with Strictly and then I
didn't have a job to go on to because Ikind of turned, I thought I need,
I genuinely need a rest.
I need, but in hindsight, I should havestayed on that train fully.
And to take sort of the late February inthe march off was really dangerous for me.

(16:04):
And I went to a really horrible placebecause it was the kind of time where this
craziness, this bubble of Strictly hadpopped and all of a sudden, my dad was on
the Strictly train with me.
My brother was, it was a great plaster forboth, for both, for all of us.
But then my dad was a broken man and I hadto be the strong woman.

(16:27):
I was the eldest daughter.
I had to, my brother and my brother keepseverything inside.
And, and, and I'm a very, I'm a leader.
You can probably tell that, you know,that's who I am.
And yet I stopped looking after me.
And that was a mistake.
A lot of people say it's the same withbreast cancer treatment.
When people stop the treatment,they stop going for the chemo,
they stop, they finish the radiotherapy.

(16:48):
That's when it hits emotionally.
And I guess it's a similar thing withgrief.
You had something to keep you really busyand keep you really occupied.
Also kept you knowing that your mum wasthere, you know, knowing that she was,
she wanted you to do Strictly and she wasso proud of you and everything.
But so what happened next then?
How did you, how did you cope at thattime?

(17:09):
Well, I carried on.
I got back on the Strictly bus,shall we say, because I was really lucky
that Craig Revel Horwood, who I'd met onthe show, I became wonderful friends with.
He said, we need to tell your life story.
And that would include my mum.
And I was like, what?
He went, I've had this idea.
It's called Strictly Confidential.
And we're going to tour the country formonths.
And part of it will be from you joiningdrama school, from being eight years old

(17:33):
to present day.
And it'll be every element of your careerand your life.
And we're going to tell that story throughnarrative and through dance.
And every night and obviously matinees onWednesdays and Saturdays, we got to play
In My Daughter's Eyes by Martina McBride.
And they did a contemporary dance.
And mum's picture was on.

(17:56):
And every night it killed me.
And I knew when it was coming in the show,it was like 22 minutes into the show.
And, you know, you can't fake that becausethat was the raw emotion that my mum was
kind of there.
But my mum who'd been there from mycareer, she was my ally.
When I made a mistake, she told me that itwas OK.
You know, when I made a really badmistake, she still defended me and said it

(18:17):
was OK.
You know, I'd lost my blanket.
I'd lost my blanket fully.
And I didn't know how to cope on my own.
I really didn't know how to swim.
It was and I describe it as like a kidlost their arm wings.
You know, I'd lost my wings and I didn'tknow how to carry.
And in this industry of mine, which is itis dog eat dog, you know, and I realized

(18:40):
that I'd survived as a woman in thisindustry because of the wonderful woman
that held me up.
Only she wasn't there anymore.
So this was all strictly was all during abreak from Emmerdale.
And you are now back at Emmerdale.
Is it have you ever had a break from itall to really sort of process your mum's

(19:00):
death and give you that time?
Or have you basically just gone from oneproject to the next and kept yourself
really, really busy?
Yeah, that's what I do sometimes.
Yeah.
And yeah, I love my job.
I care about my job so much.
And what I've realized is through my work,it kind of filters through my family as
well.
And now the new members of my family,my nephews and my niece, who are a huge

(19:21):
part of my life, we wanted to keep mum'slegacy alive.
And we do that by doing things like this.
Like they know that now.
And we said at mum's funeral, we're likewe are going to laugh and we're going to
talk about it like she's still in theroom.
10th of January with the kids,we write postcards, we send them to
heaven.
We go to the postbox and we post themevery January 10th on mum's birthday.

(19:42):
And that will be until I die.
That's something we're always going to doforever and ever.
And that's also good for my brother in theway he bottles things up.
But with Emmerdale, I remember saying tomum, you know, I don't think I'll go back.
And then there was producers whilst mumwas alive kept asking me to go back.
And I was like, oh, I don't know.

(20:03):
And then I was doing all my other jobs andmy other dramas that I've done.
And I was never sort of out of work.
And in the case of like, you know,some people need to go back to a job.
I was very lucky that I didn't need to goback.
And Jane Hudson, who was my boss at thetime, she was like, she was also my boss
when I did Waterloo Road.
And she's like, please come back for me.
And so I said, OK, I'm going to do fourmonths.

(20:26):
And I did.
And I swear to you, Laura, here as I sithere now in my seventh year back,
I wouldn't change it for the world.
I'm so lucky.
I've got a real family.
I've got my new family there now.
My family that on the days when I miss herthe most, you know, we have our dressing
room.
It's amazing.
Dressing room five is all the Dingle,cue the song, all the Dingle ladies,
all the Dingle ladies.
We're all in dressing room five together.

(20:48):
And there's days where we can read oneanother and we can we can judge how we're
feeling and, you know, we prop each other.
And like you said, Lucy Pargeter,who portrayed the story line so amazing
for you guys at Breast Cancer Now.
You talked about wanting to continue yourmum's legacy.
And you've talked a little bit about whatshe was like as a person.

(21:08):
But is there, how would you sum her up asa person?
Tell us a little bit more about who Cathwas.
Catherine by name, Catherine by nature,Catherine Wheel.
So when you think of the Catherine Wheel,this never, this colour, colour,
vibrant, never stops spinning energy,caring, caring to the point of ridiculous,

(21:31):
you know, for everybody, even beforediagnosis.
Yeah, she was so special.
And even now on social media, when thingshappen at work and things happen.
So therefore, my jobs mentioned socialmedia, people will then message me going,
hi, I'm Billy.
You don't know me, but I was the cleanerat Air Talks where your mum worked for

(21:52):
years.
Your mum kept me going.
And I was like, you know, and I'm readingthat, you know.
And then I remember her mentioning like,for example, a Billy or a Claire or,
you know, Dorothy, Dorothy from thecanteen.
And she wrote to me on social media.
You don't know who I am, Lisa,but your mum, she used to make me laugh.
She told me to leave my husband and I did.
It's the best thing I ever did.
And that's my mum, you know, but I'm likethat now.

(22:15):
You can definitely tell.
Yeah, that's exactly what I was going tosay.
As soon as you said Catherine Wheel neverstops going.
I was like, yeah, that seems like you.
Yeah.
And that's lovely.
I think when you, you know, you talk aboutsomeone you've lost, but you, you clearly
are them.
Yes, and she shines through in you.
And now I'm going to make myself cry.
So it's true.
When people say about my smile as well.

(22:36):
And, you know, in a world where sometimesit can be quite a hard world for people,
I think a smile is free.
It resonates with people and means somuch.
And whenever you think of mum,you think of her beaming smile,
even like that last the last month of herlife.
The laughter we had looking back washilarious.

(22:58):
You know, I remember one, you know,one doctor coming in.
She just went, she went to me.
I like him the best.
I was like, why do you like him?
Thinking she was going to say,you know, he was so lovely and he made it
feel better because he looked like Poirot.
How can you say you're like a doctorbecause he looks like Hercule Poirot?
But for us, every time now we see thatlast doctor in, you know, that's my mum.

(23:19):
Yeah, I like that.
I like the, it's the memories.
And, you know, you can still make memoriesup until the last day of your life.
Of course.
And the fact that you look back on thelast day of her life with a smile.
I mean, with obviously absolutedevastation, but with a smile because of
something she said that made you laugh.
Fully.
It's really lovely.
I've made you cry quite a lot already.
So I'm going to go to Emmerdale and maybelighten things up.

(23:42):
You took a break for a number of years,but you actually started playing Mandy
Dingle in 1995.
How does it feel to be on a soap for 30years, albeit on and off?
Yes, July, July, this July is my 30th.
It's incredible.
It truly is.
And it's testament to the producers andthe writers.
And some will say me because I do give itmy all and I do care.

(24:02):
There's never a day where I phone in anepisode or phone in a scene.
Every word I speak has been writtenbecause a writer wants me to say it
because a producer wants a storyportrayed.
And I care about what I do, no matter howold I'm getting now.
And I am now that I was the kid on theblock.
Now I'm the nana on the block.
And it's lovely for all the young ones.
They come to me for advice, Laura,you know, because fame, people think it's

(24:26):
all brilliant.
You know, as I sit here with you now,I'll be 49 in July.
You know, I've been in the public eyesince I was 14 years old.
And it's changed a lot.
And now with social media.
So if the young ones need to lean on me,oh my God, of course.
And I'll be there for them.
And I'll be, I'm quite brutal.
I don't, you know, I don't fudge thingsover.
I don't like, you know, what I call paintthe glossy picture.
I go this and this and this and there'llbe a repercussion because you can't,

(24:50):
you can't throw fog at people in my humbleopinion.
You can't because we live in a world whereeveryone goes, oh, it's all fine.
Really?
Sometimes it's not.
There is foggy days.
And so by being truthful, people know theycan come to me and I'll be there for them
and I'll listen and I'll try and give themthe best advice I possibly can.
Certainly from being in the industry,you know.
And is anyone there for you in that,in that way?

(25:13):
Is, do you have, well, you mentioned youhave your Emmerdale family.
Yeah.
In your support.
I think if you spoke to everyone atEmmerdale, they'd probably say we go to
Lisa.
Yeah.
They call it Riley's retreat.
So you're the, you're the mama.
Yeah.
Well, do you know what I always say,right?
I didn't have kids for my own reason.
My IVF didn't work.
That's fine.
But I do think in my, and I'm not beingall hippie about this, but I think there's

(25:34):
a real energy of life.
There's a reason why I didn't get pregnantbecause I've got so many kids.
Yeah.
And my shoulders are wide for a reasonbecause I do take things on board for
people.
And I think it's trust and loyalty.
You literally, you can tell me somethingand it really does go to the grave.
And because I won't sit on the fence aswell.
I won't, I never tell people what theywant to hear.
It's who I am and I'm never going tochange.
And I probably get it from Mum because momwas a no BS person as well.

(25:58):
Sounds like it.
Yes.
So Mandy was involved last year in abreast cancer storyline.
Could you tell us who's who and whathappened in that storyline?
Cause I know the Dingle family is quitebig.
Yes.
What is it?
Someone said whether there's too manyfaces to fit on one tea towel.
I love that.
And that's the truth.
Yes.
The Dingles were created now 31 years ago.

(26:20):
And we are a dysfunctional family from theNorth and yes, there's lots of us.
And inevitably, Chas, who is Mandy'scousin, her Mum, as in so faith also had
breast cancer.
And then Lucy got the call to go upstairsto the bosses because we were going to do
the gene.
Lucy plays Chas.
Lucy plays Chas.

(26:40):
Yes.
Because no one in soap had done the genestoryline.
And many soap operas do breast cancer forthe right reasons.
But I think it's the gene storyline thatmeans a lot and will hit home and will
become a massive talking point.
And it did.
Lucy knew that they were never going tokill the character off.
They were going to play it for truth.
They work with Breast Cancer Now.
And they spoke to so many ladies who'dbeen through it.

(27:02):
Lucy came to me a lot, which was lovely.
And I remember a press day me and Lucy didtogether.
And it's the day where you go to arecording studio, a bit similar to this.
And you're kind of fed to every studio andyou do 40 interviews in one day.
And obviously in the downtime in between,she kept saying, she kept, no,
I went to Lisa.
If I had any questions in the dressingroom, I'd ask Lisa and Lisa told me the

(27:24):
truth about how you're feeling the bodylanguage.
There was a really lovely moment when Eve,who actually plays in the story now,
my stepdaughter, it's really weird.
My cousin, I'm a stepdaughter.
I know when she married my husband now,it's soap.
And she had her body after she'd come backfrom treatment.
And I said, Eve wouldn't be able to jumpon the couch like that.

(27:47):
Right.
You know that.
So even though we have a lot of advisorson set, we have nurses.
I just said that as a friend.
And so she just kept the pillow like this,a power arms.
And when it went out, I said to thedirector, you can't have the kid jumping
on because then that would be a differentpoint of the scene.
You don't understand that.
Those are the things that you notice whenyou're watching TV, even when,
you know, I watch like a thriller orwhatever and you see person running away.

(28:11):
They've just been shot in the side,but they're running away like sprinting.
And yeah, when you've had breast cancer,those are the things that you know.
When you see someone, no, they wouldn't bethat active.
They wouldn't be that, yeah, able.
It's true.
I know.
We always say on set, we go, don't pullthe thread.
That's what we always say to one another.
Like someone go, do you think this couldhappen now?
And then you just look at everyone andeveryone goes, don't pull the thread.

(28:34):
And that happens.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But then obviously when people go through,we like to try and get it really right.
You know, and I know certainly Emmerdaleworks so hard at getting it right as in
and the truth of the storyline and how youcan be.
I think what we covered really beautifullywith Chas and Lucy's storyline as an
actress, it was that the fact she wasstarting a new relationship with Dr. Liam

(28:57):
and how you would feel sexually as awoman.
And we, I thought they did that sobrilliantly.
And the fact that she's now dating adoctor, you know, and I thought that was,
there was a lot of, you know, will they,won't they in that?
And I thought that was clever.
Yeah.
That is, that is so important to peoplebecause so many people affected by breast
cancer will be watching, you know,Emmerdale is one of the most watched

(29:21):
soaps, one of the most watched TV programsin the UK.
And you will get people watching that.
That's really, really important to peopleat home.
So if they see those details not donequite right, or if they see them done
really, really right, that is going to,you know, that's going to make them feel
something.
And that's what it's all about,isn't it?
Absolutely.

(29:41):
I mean, I remember personally being in asupermarket where not only people know
what I've been through because I spoke onLoose Women about my Mum and stuff,
but then obviously where they believesometimes that I am Mandy Dingle and that
Lucy is Chas.
And this particular lady came up to me inthe supermarket and she just said to me,
she said, how's Chas doing?
And I was like, oh, she's, she's doingokay.

(30:03):
Yeah.
And she's going, she will survive,won't she?
I was like, well, it's a story and theycan't differentiate.
But then I think that's so clever becauseit really proves that soap hits home,
that you're in their, you're in theirhouses, Laura, five times a week on a
story that probably look at the stats oftoday within that household, they will get
hit by breast cancer or a cancer.

(30:24):
So if we can give that awareness over andover and keep giving the cancer
storylines, it's really informative andit's also really helpful because I've,
I know myself, like if I go on a LorraineKelly show or this morning and I can talk
about month like I'm doing today,but I think there is something with soap
opera where they really believe that theyknow us, that the Dingles are their

(30:45):
friend.
Therefore, if it can happen to theDingles, it can happen to them.
Yeah.
And it's cause we grow up with soaps inthe UK.
It's quite a British thing, you know,not every country has their soap and not
every country has their actors thatthey've grown up with for 30 years.
So they feel like they know you.
Yes.
Emmerdale has won loads of awards for thesoap, particularly for these storylines.

(31:07):
Is that right?
It's true.
So what is flabbergasting is the fact thatthe public are voting for us, right?
But it's because, and people tell me thisin the street all the time.
For example, when we were submitted forBAFTA, right?
They used Lucy's storyline, the breastcancer storyline, and then out and about
they'll go, we voted for you because ofbreast cancer because they were at home

(31:28):
and they thought we'd got it right.
And that's because we'd worked with breastcancer now and used your advisors.
You know, it's wonderful.
So we're winning these awards,which is great and everyone's happy,
but we're winning it because we're gettingit right with the medical stuff because
we're in the houses.
And I think that's wonderful.
And it's resonating with people.
And hopefully it's also just gettingpeople talking about those things because

(31:49):
it is hard.
You know, I talk on this podcast aboutbreast cancer and the various elements of
that that affect my life, but I find thathard to have that conversation with the
people close to me.
Sure.
And if you're watching it on TV in yourliving room, sat with that person close to
you, that might be the thing that startsthat conversation.

(32:10):
Of course.
I found a lump or whatever it may be.
I think when they're voting for it,it's their way of saying thank you as
well.
Thank you to the show because they've gonethrough it.
And if they're watching Chas and they'reseeing Chas watch herself, you know,
that inevitable moment when they have tolook at their own body after they've had
the mastectomy.
And if they're picking up a pen andactually taking the time to vote,

(32:32):
that's a lot of effort.
You know, in this quick world we live in,it's testament that with the help of
Breast Cancer Now and Lucy's performancethat we got it right.
So how is Chas on the show?
She's absolutely fine.
So she's had the mastectomy, had all hertreatment and you've now found out that
Aaron, her son, has the gene.

(32:53):
OK, so we're talking about the BRCA genemutation now.
So tell us a little bit about thatstoryline.
This was really weird and I'm openly goingto speak about it because I have spoken
about it before.
When Mum was diagnosed and Mum eventuallydied, it was said to me with the BRCA
gene, like, do you want to be tested?

(33:15):
And I said, absolutely not.
And they went, are you sure?
And I said, absolutely not, because Idon't want to know anything.
I don't want to know anything.
And they were like, you could tell.
And it's my decision.
It's my body.
I do have an elected mammogram every yearthat I pay for myself.
Thank God I can afford that.
I will say that I can go myself.

(33:38):
And this is because you're 48,so you're not at the age that you would be
getting a mammogram on the NHS.
Exactly.
Yeah, so it's for my peace of mind and Isleep better at night knowing that.
And I spoke to my brother about it.
He doesn't want to.
So that when we did the press day,that spoke to about with Lucy,
of course, we then did the BRCA genestoryline that would carry on and carry

(33:58):
on.
People are like, Lisa, I'm the same asyou.
Thank you so much for publicly saying it.
So I'm out there for the girls and boysthat don't want to.
And I live for today.
That's exactly how I live my life,because no one in any which way,
shape or form knows what's happening tothem.
Live for now.
And I don't want to know, but that's justme personally.

(34:20):
It's funny because it is just youpersonally.
And it's great to have both sides of thearguments on this podcast, I think,
because I'm the complete opposite.
Knowledge is power all the way.
So it's slightly different to you becauseI was diagnosed with breast cancer myself.
I immediately wanted to have that genetest because my grandmother had had breast

(34:41):
cancer in her 30s and I was 29.
So for me, it was just important to findthat out.
And at the time, it came back negativethat I didn't have the BRCA gene mutation.
But 10 years later, when I got a secondarybreast cancer diagnosis, they then were
able to test for more genes, more genemutations.
And I found out that I have a genemutation called PAL-B2.

(35:04):
So everyone has BRCA genes in their bodiesand PAL-B2 genes.
They are genes that...
So BRCA, BRCA, getting a bit technical.
No, I love it.
It stands for breast cancer.
And it's basically a gene you have in yourbody that protects you against breast
cancer.
And what it means when you test positivefor this mutation is that gene has broken.
So gene mutation just means that your genehas broken.

(35:26):
It's not doing its job well enough.
So therefore it can't protect you againstbreast cancer in the way that it should.
So that's what's happened with Chas.
And that's what's happened with me,not with BRCA, but with PAL-B2.
And for me to know that it's differentbecause I've already had breast cancer and
have breast cancer.
But for me, it's just another thing that Ican take preventative measures to protect

(35:52):
myself as much as possible, which youprobably do anyway.
I'd be a liar, Laura, if I didn't sit withyou today and go, hold on, look at my gene
pool.
Again, I'll make a joke of it.
I don't wear jeans.
I wear leggings.
I don't want to wear jeans, right?
Because on Pepper, my Mum's maiden name,and Riley, my Mum's bridal name.
So grandma Riley died of cancer.

(36:12):
My Mum died of cancer.
My nana Pepper died of cancer.
I'm not stupid.
However, what I will say to you,the biggest hurdle for me, Mum's
diagnosis.
I said she died at 58.
To get to my 48th birthday and I sit herewith you now, touch wood and I'm clear.
Yeah.
Amazing.
That's the hymn sheet I want to sing frombecause I'd be stupid to look you in the

(36:36):
eye and go, I know what my fate will be inlife.
You won't need to go to the doctor whenyou go for it, you know, when I had
laryngitis.
Do you know when your family have lungcancer?
That's the questions they ask.
Well, yeah, they did actually.
Well, I've just got laryngitis.
Can I have some, you know?
And I had a chest x-ray and I was fine.
But, you know, they are going to...
That is part of how we look at medicinenow.

(36:57):
So, but I'm living for now.
So do you think if you found out that youhad that gene mutation, you would live
life differently?
Fully.
I'm a self-confessed control freak.
Yeah.
I literally, every pore in my body iscontrol free, right?
And that is something I am in control ofme.
Yeah.
I don't want that to be in control of me.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, yeah, I totally get you.
As much as it's a hover, you know,and I will lie in my bed and I say to Al,

(37:19):
my partner, and I say to him all the time,like, I'm going, oh, my genes are garbage.
You know, when he lost his mum's cancerrecently, I was like, wow, it's a female
again, you know?
But I won't, I won't live like that.
I won't live like that at all,no.
So in the show, Chas finds out she testspositive for the gene mutation.
Does Mandy then have the test as well?

(37:41):
She hasn't.
No, but knowing the way that the ether ofsoap works, that'll be because it's called
what's a pocket storyline.
It's like they'll go, right, we'll putthat in a pocket just in case.
Yeah.
They can bring that back.
Of course.
At some point, potentially.
And then, of course, Aaron, my nephew,he has now been tested positive,
but they might not, if the show's stillhere in nine years, whatever, they might

(38:04):
think, right, well, that will lead tothat, will lead to that.
Yeah, it's a pocket storyline.
They can plant seeds and they're incontrol of what water they put on it.
Yeah.
At what time.
How did it affect you personally,playing, doing that storyline,
going to work every single day,doing these really, really emotional
storylines with Chas as Mandy,when you've been through your own personal

(38:28):
experience of this in real life?
Yeah, there's many times at work wheresometimes you have this like, can we call
it the crossroads of reality and sort oftruth of your own life and stuff like
that.
The bit that I found really hard that Ionly told Lucy later was Lucy actually had
her implants as her removed years ago andshe's quite an advocate of having them

(38:50):
because one leaked and she had herimplants taken out.
So as Chas, she had two chicken fillets,right?
And she'd wear them as Chas.
And then what she discussed with Jane whenthey knew the storyline was happening,
she was going, we're getting rid of thechicken fillets because actually the
flatness of the mastectomy, she'd havenothing.

(39:12):
And I remember being in dressing room fivewith the girls and Lucy B and Lucy was
just like messing around and she went,and the chicken fillets are off,
they're going.
And I could like see my mum and then Istarted getting really teary-eyed and she
knew.
And again, a very jovial moment becausemum was just like, I remember being in
Tenerife and she went, sod this.
And it drove her mad because mum was a bigbreasted woman as well so it was heavy,

(39:34):
you know?
And like going through a security,I mean, she was hilarious.
At Manchester Airport, she went,here we go again, here we go again.
Spongy's gonna get fun, you know?
Again, it was all that.
So all the stuff about the chicken filletswas really a point where I went home and I
really, really cried, like really,really cried.

(39:55):
When you're recording the storylines onthe show, do you have a protective measure
to sort of not get too emotionallyinvolved or do you just go full in?
When we did the memory episode where itwas just the Dingle girls in obviously
Chas's house, which the set of Chas'shouse, which is the back room of the wall
pack.

(40:15):
And it was Moira and Eden.
Belle has a real name in it.
Charity, Lydia, Mandy and Moira and Chas.
Got it right, yeah.
Because none of the real names.
When we did the memory episode and it wastalking about sisterhood and being there
for each other and response we got fromthe audience was unbelievable.
That day in particular, when they saidcut, we really leant on one another

(40:40):
because it's the truth of the stats.
The stats of you've got us actresses in aroom similar to this size, yeah?
Portraying a story.
But if you look at the ladies in the room,how many of us it could happen to,
there was truth moments where we're goinggirls.
And we're all of, you know, Eden's youngerthan us but we're all girls of a very
similar age.
We're all between 44 and 52, excludingEden.

(41:05):
What do the stats tell us?
That it's gonna, you know, I'm primetarget.
Of course I am.
So yeah, it was a day that we were reallyemotional in the sense of we lean on each
other as friends rather than, you know,playing the fact that we are cousins in
this crazy family.
And we're lucky with that because we trustone another.
And we're lucky in days where,like for example, last February,

(41:30):
right?
No one will have known that I went for amammogram this particular day and I went
to the hospital in Leeds, had mymammogram.
I was back in the makeup chair atEmmerdale at quarter past 10 for my makeup
call.
And I was on camera like normal at quarterpast 11.
Being funny, being in Mandy's salon allday, right?
At lunch break, I went in and I went,girls, I can't cope, I can't cope.

(41:52):
And they're like, what do you mean?
I was like, I cannot cope.
Because there's days where I have to pressthe bravado button, but a day like that
where for some reason it was my mammogramnumber three, my head was playing games
with me.
And I was like, this is the one.
I started saying, third time, not solucky.
That's what kind of planted.
In my head that I was on my thirdself-elected mammogram and I had to go and

(42:16):
play Mandy Dingle.
And I did my lunch and I went back to themakeup room.
The girls are incredible.
They're like our therapists in the makeup.
And I went, I'm so sorry.
I'm so, can you please mend my face?
I didn't want to go into it.
I was like, no, I'll tell you another day.
Because again, I had to go and be funny.
I went back on set and I've got Dominicwho plays Paddy.
You know, we've been the dearest friendson set.
I trust him like a brother, you know?
And he can read me where it's like,I've just got to get through these scenes

(42:40):
through hook or by crook.
I am literally, I'm acting more than I'macting.
Does that make sense?
Even more so because I don't want to facetoday.
I don't want to face the fact that in myhead it's swimming and something's telling
me that I've got breast cancer.
And I can't quieten that in my head.
I could not turn the noize off in my headthat specific day.
And those days happen.

(43:01):
Do the mammograms cause you a lot ofanxiety then?
Or scan anxiety, as we call it in thebreast cancer community.
Do you know what's really weird?
And this is the gospel truth is thatparticular day as well.
Of course, being the ambassador of breastcancer now which I'm so proud of.
There was Breast Cancer Now, posterseverywhere in the actual cubicle and the
nurse was amazing.
And I don't think she knew, which is fine.

(43:23):
That's fine.
But it was like it was all coming in onme.
Like it was my time.
It was my time because the room was fullof posters and Al, my other half,
he was sat in the lobby of the hospitaland he was like, you're different.
He saw I was different.
It was literally like someone was givingme a message and I'd told myself that like
mum from heaven or whatever was saying tome, this is your time and touch what it

(43:45):
wasn't.
But I'm due for one very soon now and I'llbe going.
So I'm hoping that I can quiet in my head.
Do you have a thing that helps to escapeto kind of get away from that?
Nothing quietens me down.
Al would love a remote control.
I say this a lot.
He'd love to turn me down a little bit.

(44:05):
And I work really hard.
You know, I think I quiet myself withbusyness.
So that might sound stupid, but it's thetruth.
I have to keep going.
My family and my world.
And it's not such a bad thing being fullof energy.
I'm not really a mizerable person.
I don't...
Mizery doesn't sit well with me.
If someone says to me like what,you know, the young and Stacy,

(44:26):
what's your ick?
Yeah, mizerable is probably my ick andnegativity.
Like I'm not very good.
I'm not very good with moaning.
So if people moan, I go that you lose me.
It's like the radio turns off.
I hear you on that.
Yeah.
So you go for your elective mammograms.
You're in your late forties.

(44:46):
As we know, we should also be checkingourselves.
Do you do self checks as well?
Yeah, you can't not be the ambassador forBCN.
Do you know what I mean?
And also at work in the men's and thegirls' toilets.
We have, you know, from the Lorraine show,we have all the pictures there.
They're on every single mirror,which again is wonderful.
Just by being in the loo, when you're inyour own little mindset, you're looking at

(45:09):
going...
People have come to me at work and saidlike, and I always go, don't neglect your
armpits.
Because I think people do, people thinkand it's like, no, you know, go to your
armpit as well.
So yes, I won't be an ostrich about thingslike that.
Yeah.
And men as well, of course, it's not justwomen.
Of course, really important.
Literally everyone should be checkingthemselves, shouldn't they?
They really, really should.
And also, it can be a real talking pointnow.

(45:31):
We're talking about my mum, which she wasyears ago, and I know because of social
media, it's really great that we can getit out even more.
But also, when you're on a night out,it's okay to talk about it.
If you feel anything that's remotelydifferent that you...
Come on, we know our own bodies,we do.
That reflection you see in the mirror.
Anything that you feel is not your normal,ring the GP.

(45:55):
Because as we started this, my mum was anostrich.
Don't keep your head in the sand.
Don't be an ostrich.
You say, what's your mantra of life?
That's mine.
With any form of cancer, do not be anostrich, because that extra three months
could save your life.
And we know that with the stats.
The stats now are brilliant.
So do you have a particular method ofchecking yourself?

(46:15):
I think mirror and body is the first greatone.
And you look at your body head to toe,and you are very aware.
We are.
When you're in the shower, that's alwaysreally good.
And I say that to everybody.
I say to my friends, you don't just washyourself.
With the campaign, you have TLC.
Touch, look, check.
It's amazing.
When you're in the shower, just touch,and then look in the mirror, and then

(46:37):
check yourself all over.
It's a really easy thing to think.
TLC, as tender loving care,we know the very famous song as well.
It's important to kind of use that methodin your head and use those words,
if that's what you're doing.
And also, with your partner as well.
You can check yourself, but sometimes,I know this happened to a friend of mine,

(47:00):
it was their partner that basically waslike, that wasn't right.
And then, lo and behold, it was something.
She's fine.
She's absolutely fine now, but why not?
TLC, look after one another.
And I think that is really important.
And that's something that you can say toyour friends.
You touch, look, and check.
It's really simple.

(47:21):
And also, it's important to know thatyou're not looking for something.
You're just checking.
You're just checking for what's normal.
You're not looking to find something thatmight be breast cancer, because in most
cases, there's not going to be anything tofind.
No, I spoke to one of the...
It was actually one of the classroomattendants at my nephew's school.
And this is so interesting, because again,when people...

(47:42):
You just said that about, you know,it's always a lump or dimpling,
or like what could be like cellulite.
And hers, because we spoke about this inthe playground, it was just a tiny dot,
right?
And she thought, of course, she thought itwas like a little skin nick, or,
you know, she might have caught herselfwith a bra strap or anything.
And of course, over two months,that dot, and it was the tiniest,

(48:02):
like literally smaller than an earring,Laura.
Smaller than an earring.
And she just went to have it checked.
It was breast cancer, you know?
Something that over time, she justthought, no, after like month number two,
this isn't right.
And of course, it turned out to be breastcancer.
She's fine, thank goodness.
Great.
That's it.
It's getting to know what's normal overtime if something changes.
Fully.

(48:23):
And if something changes over time,go to your doctor, go to your GP.
And always, can we please reiterate this,because this is so important.
Like, and I've spoken about my mum,but the ostrich thing.
Never, ever, ever think you're wastingdoctor's time.
Oh, no, absolutely not.
Do you hear this a lot?
Yes, yes.
And I hear it so much.
No, even if the world we live in and Ididn't get an appointment, you will get an

(48:46):
appointment.
You will.
Even if it's a Zoom call or it's a phonecall, just make that contact.
Don't kind of watch daytime TV and go,and they're doing a breast cancer time
and, you know, a section and a topic onbreast cancer.
If they see and you do have somethingthat's different, please contact your GP,
because it's so important.
But there's so many people that say that,oh, I didn't want to waste doctor's time.

(49:09):
Why not?
I mean, that is literally their job.
But also, a doctor would much rather yougo with the early symptoms of a breast
cancer or just a lump or something smallin your breast, than you go a year down
the line when you've got back pain andbreathlessness and all sorts of other
things, which means it's at a much laterstage potentially.

(49:30):
So yeah, just go as soon as you can.
Yeah, when they say nip it in the bud,literally nip it in the bud.
You can hear yourself saying that,you know, so do it.
Put it into action.
TLC, nip it in the buds.
Always.
Yes.
So just going back to the show,I know that the show's writers and you and
Lucy, I think, worked with Breast CancerNow on the storyline.

(49:51):
How did you and Lucy research the role andhow did you work with Breast Cancer Now on
that?
So Lucy was given the option to speak tosurvivors and what's called how her body
would be.
So again, sitting and to tell thenarrative.
She, as an actress, chose not to do that.

(50:12):
She wanted her interpretation and how hermindset.
She's played Chas for all these years.
She knows that Chas isn't, you know,she's like a go get a woman.
She's fierce.
She's girl power.
She wanted to still portray that.
And then when it came to those moments asan actress, when she was on her own,
she wanted to play that real vulnerablethat literally the curtains were dropped.

(50:34):
And that's what she wanted.
She was the landlady of the pub,you know, invincible.
So she didn't kind of want to talk toanyone that was going through it or had
gone through it.
She just wanted to do it as Chas,how she thought this kind of it's my pub.
Come on, fun, fun, fun in front of thefamily.
Everything's great.
And then all the scenes in her bedroom,in the back room, she's going to break and

(50:57):
break and literally the curtains are goingto fall.
So I respect her for that.
She was asking me loads of questions.
I spoke to two nurses.
They were amazing.
And obviously I've worked with so manygrief counsellors.
They played it.
Obviously Mandy had to be the support thatthe grief, you know, how you would do in
the family to be the informer to the othermembers of the family.

(51:17):
I was like, no disrespect.
Kind of know what to do here.
You know, kind of been there, done that,bought the t-shirt.
And not in a cocky way at all,but it was a way of like going,
I kind of know how you pass the messagethrough, you know?
And sometimes with grief and I did speakto our bosses about this and they
incorporated it, which was wonderful.
When someone's going through the worstpart of grief, obviously Chas didn't die,

(51:40):
but like when news, people try and busythemselves around you.
All of a sudden you've got like 60bottles, you know, 60 bowls of soup being
delivered as if that's all you need.
And it's actually, you don't just everyonejust back off.
So of course they wrote in that Lydia,who is the mumsy one, the fact that
Lydia's come around with, you know,vats and vats of soup thinking that that's
the way to make it better in hope of goingaway.

(52:02):
Got it, got it.
Although I would say that bringing food isalways a great way to, to help out someone
who's either grieving or going throughbreast cancer in any way.
And look at me in true Dingle style with asnotty tissue.
I'll put that down there just for anybody.
Always a Dingle.
So soaps like Emmerdale are obviouslymeant for entertainment, but they do cover

(52:22):
serious storylines and these storylineshave, can have a massive impact on,
on our lives.
What do you think is the role of the soapin terms of educating, helping,
informing, entertaining people with,with serious issues like breast cancer?
I think it's the two words you just said.
Then I think, I think it's informing andit's entertaining.
Because we're not, we're not rammingstatistics down people's throat.

(52:48):
And, you know, some people might feelreluctant to read a pamphlet, for example.
I know I'm that sort of person.
I'd be like, okay.
Whereas they don't actually know they'rebeing taught all the lessons, all the
information and how you will be feeling.
Because actually you go, I love Ches andMandy.
I love that relationship.
And yet they're just, they're going andthey're checking themselves because

(53:11):
they're just watching Chas and Mandy andthey don't know body language why they're
just doing it.
Now that's really clever.
That's, that's kind of the, we'remanipulating the audience, but we're not
for, for the good.
The brilliance we had it with,with Marlon's storyline when we did the
stroke story.
And of course, as we know, men don't talk.
Men find it so difficult and the amount oflives we've now saved through Marlon's

(53:34):
storyline.
And then Paddy with the suicide,suicide, you know, Mandy was the,
the strap line was everyone needs a Mandy,you know?
And I think that again, it's, it'swonderful.
And, and so many people like from Mandy'sman club that come out and said,
Oh, everyone needs a Mandy because it'show you speak to them, how you look after
them.
And that's what soaps do.
And it's wonderful.

(53:55):
I think it's because they, they genuinelyfeel like we're their friends that we live
on their street.
You know, they'll joke like when,when we see people, when they get
recognized or I'll be on a train andthey'll say, we wouldn't like to live in
Emmerdale.
You know, there's, there's all this goingon.
Actually you would because we're tellingyou what goes on in real life.
And Emmerdale is absolutely brilliant atgetting it right.

(54:16):
Getting it right.
And the real narrative.
And especially when we do these bigmedical storylines, you know, with the
breast cancer, with the stroke,with suicide.
I'm so proud of the show for that.
And I guess that's because the producersand the writers always work with
organizations and charities like breastcancer now.
So they want to get the storyline rightand accurate.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The only thing that I will say and whatthey have, what people do need to know is

(54:39):
I play Mandy Dingle as a character who isChas's confidant and support.
I'm Lisa Riley, lost my Mum to breastcancer.
I'm not a medical advisor.
So on social media people, therefore I getabsolutely saturated with questions and
people saying to me, hi Lisa, I'm Bethfrom Rochdale.
I found a lump.

(54:59):
I don't know what to do.
So I can give all your information forBreast Cancer Now.
Hoping to God that she will pick the phoneup and speak to your advisors or find her
own clinician and try and, but I don'tknow that.
And that's the point where it's verydifficult and my guilty head takes over
and work a brilliant, like they'll go,right.
And now after every episode, they now putout, if this is happening to you,

(55:22):
please go to ITV website and there's allthe helplines because I don't know the
medical.
I don't know what I should be saying andI'm frightened of getting it wrong.
So hopefully they'll kind of, it's not mebeing an ostrich, I just don't know what
to say.
And that's when it's really hard.
Have you ever had anyone coming to you andsaying because of the show, because of
that storyline, I found a lump and got itchecked?

(55:43):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's isn't that wonderful.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
We're saving lives in that and we don'tknow.
It's like when we did the infertile storyfor Mandy, when we did my infertile
storyline and obviously a woman having ahysterectomy so young and going into
relationships.
And I had Laura, the most beautiful emailcame through to me and it was a girl who

(56:03):
was 24 years old and she'd had to have ahysterectomy at 21.
And she said she was never going to get apartner.
And thank you for portraying the truth ofthat storyline that forever.
And then she was then wrote back to me,she said she's found love.
And I was like, I was like a guardian angel.
I mean, that's incredible because I didn'tknow even doing the storyline,
girls were that young having to havehysterectomies and how that must be,

(56:26):
you know.
So yeah, there's times when we're veryproud when we get it right.
Yeah.
We know that when Angelina Jolie manyyears ago decided to have her preventative
double mastectomy because she had testedpositive for the BRCA gene, that caused a
surge in public, you know, because she wasso famous.
So many people went for testing and it wasreally, really helped to raize awareness

(56:50):
in many ways.
But there's a very fine line, I guess,between helping to raize that awareness
and sharing such a personal storyline withthe world.
Yeah.
Where do you draw your boundaries betweenLisa Riley, who you share with the world
on Instagram and, you know, on yoursocials and Lisa Riley, who just needs to

(57:15):
be private and grieve your mum and,you know, just give yourself a little bit
of time.
Yeah, I think it comes down to me being,I'd like to think I was fully authentic
and you've met me now and I think Iprobably I am what you think you are.
I really am.
There are people in my industry that doturn the radio on when I call that when
they go to work.
You know, I am going to go on Instagramand I'm going to put a picture of me

(57:38):
bleaching my top lip because we all gothrough that and I don't want a dark top
lip, right?
I want it to be OK.
So again, that's being your authenticself.
And also when it comes to grief and lossand truth about diagnosis, I have to tell
the truth.
Not only because I'm playing, you know,Mandy Dingle, but because I want to be
that person.
I want to be true to me.

(58:00):
I won't be able to sleep at night,but I have to then also go, I have to go
home and be with Al where I am just,I'm Lisa in my jam jams, you know,
and it's hard for him as well.
It's hard for my family because as much asit's really flattering wherever we go,
it does, you know, it filters through tothe family and my other, you know,

(58:21):
my other half.
And he's amazing how, you know,he copes with it.
And I'm very, very lucky.
But, yes, there are times when I'm just nomakeup at all, hair in a scrabby knot.
Yeah.
And I can have that.
I'm allowed that.
So let's talk about your work with breastcancer now, which you've mentioned

(58:41):
already, but you became an ambassador in2017, I think, and you support the annual
wear it pink campaign, which you are alsosupporting if anyone is watching the
podcast, you're wearing a beautiful pinktop today.
So tell us about your work with breastcancer now and what you do with the
charity.
When they invited me to be ambassador,it was unbelievable because I think,

(59:04):
when you think of wear it pink and thatkind of confidence in me, it kind of
speaks volumes, doesn't it?
And here I am wearing pink if you'rewatching.
Yeah, it's that you're allowed to raizemoney and I want to raize as much money as
we can for, you know, for to basicallyfind out as much information as we can
moving forward in the medical side ofthings.
And that's research.
We know that, but that doesn't come cheap.

(59:26):
And with government funding, we need toraize as much money and awareness as we
possibly can.
And I do have a platform, you know,women like Lisa Riley.
You can't get away from that women andmen, of course, but women do like me.
And I think that's because I'm a veryhonest person.
And because I've spoken so openly about mymum when I was on Loose Women,
that again has a huge female audience andMandy Dingle.

(59:49):
So I think all sandwiched together,it was inevitable that I was going to be a
sort of flagship for the for the for thecharity.
And it was great because now we're doingit at Emmerdale.
We were able to all wear it pink at work.
And I think wearing pink is such a greatidea, you know, for that that one day.
And some people do it like I've heard thatpeople do it like once a month.
And it's good for social morale at work,you know, and camaraderie as it should be

(01:00:13):
where it's like, yeah, be silly,let's be, you know, but if you want to
wear if you want to wear a pink top and apink wig, you got to put five pound in the
pot.
Brilliant.
Everyone's raising money.
So I think, yeah, it was it was who I amkind of went hand in hand.
And this year, more than ever,which was amazing that people might not
know this, but I'm going to share it withyou now.
So wear it pink day fell on 2024.

(01:00:35):
We talk about 2024 just now.
Obviously, Bell Dingle, my niece in thestoryline, we've done a coercion
storyline, which again has affected somany women.
We've had like one of the biggestresponses to any of our storyline.
It was a full year and by complete fluke,the sort of the end of the storyline that
everyone hated, Tom and they were so onBell's side.

(01:00:56):
And it was the court week.
We were filming in the courtroom up northand it fell that wear it pink day was one
of the court days.
Now, the storyline was all kind of doom,doom and gloom and what happened.
And so I rang up our productioncoordinator.
I said, look, this is probably going to bea no, but I was wondering, could we dress

(01:01:17):
the makeup truck as pink?
Can we dress the wardrobe truck onlocation in pink?
And can we all wear pink to work?
Now, normally that'd be like a no.
They were like, absolutely.
And like all the makeup girls,everyone, all the costume, everyone was in
pink that day.
You know, we came to work.
The makeup truck was full of balloons.
If people saw my social media,everything was pink.
And it really gave this brilliant sort ofcamaraderie on set that day.

(01:01:40):
Everyone at Emmerdale was involved,you know, and to raize money as well.
It's even better because obviously there'speople at my place that, you know,
have had mastectomies, you know,they're going through chemo themselves and
radiotherapy.
So it was there as well for us to come andlean on one another, which I thought was
amazing.
And wear it pink is such, it's a greatidea.
It's a fun idea for people.

(01:02:00):
And I'm so proud to be an ambassador forBreast Cancer Now, because it's not all
right.
I'm going to be honest.
I've told you I want to stay.
I'm going to say it and I don't care.
I'm going to say it.
But there are quite a few people in thepublic eye that kind of just put the name
to stuff.
And it's like, that does make me a bit,you have to choose charity or charities
that are linked to how you feel as aperson.

(01:02:23):
You know, I'm, you know, I'm not going togo and work for the dog trust because I
don't have a dog.
You know, it's who I am.
Yet people will do that.
I choose Breast Cancer Now because I knowexactly what family members are going
through, what people are going throughwho've had treatment.
I've lived it.
I lived it for all those years of my life.

(01:02:43):
You know, I held my Mum in my arms whenshe took her last breath.
I know what the truth of this is.
And I'm not going to lie to anyone.
I have no reason to need publicity.
It's just, I just want to spreadawareness.
Of course.
And you do that so much better if you'vegot that personal connection because you
believe in it so strongly and you know howimportant it is to raize that money.

(01:03:04):
You mentioned a lot of the money thatBreast Cancer Now raizes from wear it pink
and from the other campaigns is forresearch.
And a lot of people don't necessarily knowthat Breast Cancer Now does research,
but there's so much research going intotreatments and not just treatments,
but ways to make treatments kinder so thatpeople who were going through chemo in the

(01:03:26):
future might not feel so crap goingthrough chemo.
And that's what that money does.
So, you know, if all you have to do iswear a pink top and donate a little bit of
money, then you know, it's so worth it,isn't it?
Well, you know, obviously you were at theChristie yourself.
Like what people don't know is thoseafternoons when people have had like
radiotherapy and they're so tired thatthat sofa didn't just miraculously get

(01:03:49):
there, did it not?
That sofa because where you're sat oryou're holding your Mum's hand because
they're feeling so poorly is because offundraising.
Charity, yeah.
It's because that's why that sofa isthere.
And people might not know that.
They might just think, oh, just sat down.
And it's having that awareness of knowingwhere that comes from, as well as,
of course, all the research money.
You know, I remember me and mum were luckyto go to see the stem cell in Fulham and

(01:04:12):
my mum was flabbergasted, you know,and Cherie Blair was there and she met
Cherie Blair and all the work that CherieBlair has done for breast cancer as well.
And it was incredible.
But again, it is that and I'm not saying,but it's like monkey see monkey do.
When you're living it and you are,you are it.
You understand you, you know, I love beingsat here with you today because it's like
we have empathy with each other.

(01:04:32):
We know that and I think that's what'simportant and getting that out there for
people.
And how can people get involved?
How can people fundraize if they want tohelp?
Well, everyone always thinks October.
OK, October is breast cancer awarenessmonth, but it's also it's every month of
the year.
You know, I'm wearing pink today,you know, and it's just, again,
putting it out there as well as the othermonths of the year.

(01:04:53):
But fundamentally, where it pink day isOctober and you can go to the website and
get all the pack and then sign up youroffice wherever you work with all your
girlfriends.
If you want to have a wear it pinkafternoon, you know, on the Prosecco or
the No Secco, amazing.
Those are the days and you might knowsomeone who's been through it and you
might want to be there for them and have areal good jolly afternoon or night.

(01:05:14):
It's great.
Yeah, and we're still a good six monthsaway from October.
So please don't wait until then.
Please go on the show notes of thispodcast and have a look at the other links
that we've got there for fundraisingbecause there is, as you say, stuff you
can do every day and it might just be alittle, little thing, you know,
a little donation or a little regulardonation that doesn't, you know,

(01:05:35):
cost the price of a cup of coffee orwhatever.
So it's little things like when and aswell, like Evelyn, my niece is six years
old.
She knows everything about her nana,everything, you know, and for her to say,
let's do a bun sale with my class,you know, there's 24 kids in her class.
And if that's like one pound, that's 24quid.
That's going somewhere.

(01:05:55):
In this current climate, that 24 quid isgoing to a pot that's needed.
And I think if we can do that with sixyear olds, we're on the right track.
Don't you agree?
Absolutely.
Yeah, every little helps.
Of course.
Why is it important to you to work withthis charity?
I think it's really important becausefundamentally I want to help, but I would
be a liar if I wasn't sat here today tosay, do you know what, Monday I might need

(01:06:17):
you.
I might need you myself.
So I need to know that I've got thatcomfort blanket should I need it.
But people know me and know that,you know, and I'll say it again,
God gave me wide shoulders for a reason,because I like to be there for other
people and I'm loyal.
I would never tell anybody, you know,I'm sat here with you now and there's four

(01:06:38):
dear people in my life that have hadproblems with cancer that no one will
know.
And I know, and I'll take that to thegrave, you know.
Is there also an element of wanting tocontinue your mum's legacy and do
something where, you know, sheunfortunately is no longer with us,
but you are carrying on the work and,you know, helping other people with breast

(01:07:00):
cancer.
Yeah, I always say, yeah, mum's not hereto sing her song anymore and so I've got
to keep singing for my mum and I will dothat forever and ever as much as I can
because it's important.
I know she would want it and I'm not beingall like, you know, spiritual guru about
this.
This is the truth, but I do believe she ismy guiding light.

(01:07:21):
I do believe she's with me, you know,and I have proof of that and people go,
oh, it's nonsense, you know, it's allmumbo jumbo.
It's not my mumbo jumbo, you know,when I smell a certain perfume,
when I see yellow, you know, things likethat, it's just a little sign that she's
with me and I need that.
Yeah, amazing.

(01:07:41):
I'd like to finish with the question we'reasking everyone on this podcast.
So this is something you alluded toearlier.
Breast Cancer Now's vision is that by2050, everyone diagnosed with breast
cancer will not only live but be supportedto live well.
What does it mean to you to live well?
To live well is to be positive,always.

(01:08:04):
Yeah, and there are going to be days whenyou feel like poo.
Can we say that?
It is true.
Yeah, there are, you know, in every walkof life, but fundamentally, if you go into
every morning thinking it's a good day,we're very lucky, it's going to filter
through everybody else, you know,and of course, the days that you're

(01:08:25):
allowed to feel poo, that's completelynormal, but of the month, if you can have
a smile rather than a hmm, and yeah,don't get on the moaning bus, as I always
say, it's a good way to be, and that's howI will always be.
Yeah, always.
I can't be anything other than that.
Well, it has shined through today in thisinterview, Lisa.

(01:08:46):
You've been absolutely amazing,and I'm sure you'll have helped loads of
people as well, so thank you so much foreverything you do, and thank you so much
for being on this podcast with us.
Thank you so much.
You're a joy, a joy.
Thank you, Lisa.
Thank you.
If you enjoyed this episode of the BreastCancer Now podcast, make sure to subscribe
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whereveryou get your podcasts.

(01:09:10):
Please also leave us a rating or review onApple Podcasts, and perhaps recommend it
to someone you think would find ithelpful.
The more people we can reach, the more wecan get Breast Cancer Now's vital
resources to those who need them.
You can find support and information onour website, breastcancernow.org,
and you can follow Breast Cancer Now onsocial media at Breast Cancer Now.

(01:09:32):
All the links mentioned in this episodeare listed in the show notes in your
podcast app.
Thank you for listening to the BreastCancer Now podcast.
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