The Yours Members site has all the latest from the magazine, including exclusive celebrity interviews like this honest and open chat with Emmerdale star Lisa Riley...
Lisa herself is in a great place now. In 2012, after appearing on Strictly, the star completely transformed her body after losing 12st in weight and dropping from a size 28 to a svelte size 12. She needed quite dramatic surgery to remove the excess skin following her weight loss, but 11 years on she’s still feeling happier and healthier.
But this hasn’t always been the case. In 2018, Lisa and fiancé Al went through several rounds of unsuccessful IVF before being told it was unlikely they would ever conceive.
“Finding that out was a blow but I refuse to be defined by that,” she reveals. “I have seen other people go through years of IVF treatment and the stress and pressure that creates. Al would never want me to go through IVF again because he said he lost the girl he fell in love with. I am so blessed with my wonderful nephews and nieces and godchildren and we have taken full ownership of our life. I may not have 2.4 kids and a dog but I have
a beautiful bloody life. I wouldn’t is a huge aspect of longevity in a relationship for me,” she says.
“I can’t do 24/7, 365 days a year! It works for some people and that’s great, but it gives me the heebie-jeebies. I go off and do my thing, and it’s the same for Al. After a week or so apart, it’s electric when we get together again – and I’m still saying that after nine years!”
They got engaged five years ago but a wedding isn’t on the horizon. Lisa has said she always knew her big day would be heartbreaking without her late mother Cath (who passed away in 2012 after a long battle with cancer) by her side.
“We’re very happy as we are and, while I love wearing the beautiful ring Al gave me, I’ve never been the kind of girl who wants a big, flouncy day with a horse and carriage. We’ve lost both our mums and, when it comes to things like weddings, you do it for the other people.”
