I'm A Celeb's Lisa Riley before and after 12 stone weight loss

20 November 2025, 12:09

Emmerdale's Lisa Riley has opened up about her major weight loss on I'm A Celebrity.

Lisa Riley, best known for playing Mandy Dingle on Emmerdale, has opened up about her drastic weight loss and going sober on I'm A Celebrity.

Bonding with her campmates, in particular Jack Osbourne, Ruby Wax and Angry Ginge, Lisa revealed that she's now a size 16-18 after being a size 28 at her biggest. However, when she first lost weight she dropped to a size 12 after loosing 12 stone in just 18 months.

That initial weight loss left Lisa with a lot of loose skin, which caused her agony. In her 2017 documentary, Lisa Riley's Baggy Body Club, she opened up about how she felt like she was left a "saggy mess".

• Read more: I'm A Celebrity's Ruby Wax opens up about cosmetic surgery she's had

In the doc, Lisa said: "When I made the ­decision to lose weight, I never for one second imagined that I would end up looking like that. It never occurred to me that the loose skin would be so bad.

"I thought why on earth have I lost all this weight? I looked worse than I did when I was obese. And it was the pain as well. The skin was flapping about and dragging."

Lisa went on to have surgery to remove her loose skin. "The night before the surgery, I was so petrified everybody thought I wasn't going to go through with it. I was thinking that in 11 hours I could be dead. I might not wake up," she admitted.

The Emmerdale star said: "Could I have lived with the loose skin for the rest of my life? Yes, but I wouldn't have been happy. I don't feel like I have had cosmetic surgery, I have corrected what I had done to myself.

"Nobody made me eat 50 Twix bars, or a whole packet of sausages at one sitting. I did that to myself. No one made me not go to the gym. Some weeks I was probably having seven takeaways a week. I did that to myself. I have to take responsibility for that."

Speaking on I'm A Celebrity, Lisa said the surgery has been painful and revealed that one of the ways she lost so much weight was by cutting back on snacking.

"My absolute guilt for years and years was blindness to portion controls. I was also a nibbler. One of the things that I've completely cut out is nibbling," she told Ruby.

The soap star also shared that she's been sober ten years, bonding with Jack who's been sober since he was 17 years old. Revealing her drinking and smoking habits, she said she was "crazy". "Three bottles of malbec every night because mentally I needed it," she explained.

Lisa said the drinking began after her mother passed away, sharing: "When my mum died I genuinely could not cope."

Read more about I'm A Celeb here:

• I’m A Celebrity 2025 stars' net worths revealed from Angry Ginge to Jack Osbourne
• I'm A Celebrity's Ruby Wax opens up about cosmetic surgery she's had
• What is Aitch's real name? I'm A Celeb contestant's alias explained
• What is Angry Ginge's real name? I'm A Celeb contestant's alias explained
• I'm A Celeb 2025 campmates made to "fight more" as bosses make game show "tougher"
• Does Aitch have a girlfriend? His 'secret' partner revealed

Listen live to Capital, and catch up on any shows you missed, on Global Player.