Lisa Riley says late mum is looking down on her from heaven as she heads into I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
As she heads into the Australian jungle, actress Lisa Riley has said her late mum is looking down on her from heaven as she heads into I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Lisa Riley says her late mum is looking down on her from heaven as she heads into I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
The actress has been assigned a 24-hour chaperone since she arrived to shoot the latest series of the ITV survival show earlier this week, and said she has been talking about her feelings over her mother Cath’s passing from breast cancer in 2012 as she prepares to star on the series.
She told the Daily Mirror ahead of the show kicking off on ITV on Sunday (16.11.25): “It’s been lovely just talking about my mum and how proud she would be.
“I can’t help feel that maybe it is my mum in heaven giving me a message to do the show.
“She would be saying, ‘Go on, knock them dead and just have a laugh’.”
The pair had spoken at least 10 times a day before Cath’s death and the loss remains raw for Lisa, who added her mum “would be gleaming at the prospect of me doing the jungle”.
She said: “I can also imagine her sat there at nine o’clock in front of the TV, being worried about me.”
Lisa, who plays Mandy Dingle on Emmerdale and has been in showbiz for three decades added it is not only her mum she carries in her mind as she heads into the Australian jungle.
Her best friend and former dance partner on Strictly Come Dancing, Robin Windsor, died last year aged 44.
Lisa said about how he would feel about her appearing on I’d a Celebrity: “He would be like, ‘You’d be f****** hilarious’.
“I know he is definitely on my shoulder – he will be gleaming with pride.”
Lisa lives in Yorkshire with her fiancé, musician Al, and says she has accepted camp life will be tough on I’m A Celebrity.
She added: “I love looking raw on TV… I am not a vain actress. And if anything, I am the other way.
"People will see that I am going to look like an absolute minger, and I will embrace that, because that is the truth of it.
“I just want to enjoy myself and have a right good giggle and probably get covered head to toe in sheep guts while I am doing it."
