20 April 2023 , 16:32
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Actress Lisa Riley has been a favourite on Emmerdale since she first appeared on screens as Mandy Dingle almost 28 years ago.
Just like her character Mandy, Lisa hasn't always been lucky in love and has had some disastrous relationships along the way - including becoming besotted with her gay flatmate, falling for a conman, and having an affair with a married man.
But for the last nine years, she has been loved up with her American musician fiance, Al.
On Tuesday, the 46-year-old star shared a rare snap of the couple as the lovebirds lived it up on holiday in New York.
Lisa recently told The Mirror that in the past, she was always the hunter in relationships, but has since found her perfect match in Al after meeting him by chance.
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Lisa shared a rare snap of her fiance Al (Instagram/ Lisa Riley)
They met nine years ago when she 'wasn't looking for love' (lisajaneriley / Instagram)"In my previous relationships, I was always the hunter, out looking for a man," Lisa explained.
"I know it sounds like a cliché, but it's true that when you're not looking, love can land on your doorstep. I'm proof of that.
"I'd finished Strictly Come Dancing, I was loving life and enjoying seeing my friends. There was a lot going on - I'd just lost my mum - and another relationship wasn't on my radar.
"I was hugely guarded when we first met, but how wrong I was! The great thing was, he didn't know who I was, so he didn't give a crap if I was a lollypop lady or working on the bins."
Lisa and Al, who live in Yorkshire, met through friends when she was 37, and at the time, she had begun to doubt if she would ever find Mr Right.
She disclosed her troublesome dating history in her autobiography back in 2013.
Sharing an extract of Never Judge a Book By Its Cover: The Autobiography by Lisa Riley with the Mirror, she revealed she ended up falling in love with her old flatmate, who turned out to be gay.
Lisa has played Mandy on and off for 28 years (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Six months after they moved in together, they started up a friends-with-benefits situation.
Their sexual encounters became more frequent when alcohol was involved, however Lisa wanted a more serious relationship.
"I couldn't bear the idea that he might leave me. I lived in fear of him moving out. The bottom line was that I loved him," she wrote.
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"But now that three of my dearest gay friends had said they thought he was gay, a part of me had to accept he might be.
"Not long afterwards, the inevitable happened and Darren got himself a boyfriend. I realised that he was entitled to his own life."
Later in the book, she revealed how her next relationship was with a conman that made her feel 'sexy'.
The boyfriend had told her he was a waiter, and so blinded by love, she didn't think to question how he managed to afford designer clothing to join her on the red carpet.
"For once, the man on my arm at soap awards and nightclub bashes was actually my boyfriend, someone who wanted to be with me," Lisa said.
Lisa pictured in 2003 with Nick Holly (Daily Mirror)
The actress has had some dating disasters over the years (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)"Everything was perfect, including the sex. He loved my curves.
"He wanted me to be a bigger girl. It turned him on, which was wonderful. He was the first person who made me feel really sexy."
After they'd been going out for 10 months, he told her he'd been accused of fraud.
He denied it and she believed him, but he was later sentenced to three and a half years for fraud.
Lisa said that her 'whole world fell apart' when the relationship ended.
But her unbelievable dating tales didn't end there, as over Christmas 2002 during panto season, she struck up a romance with set painter, Nick Holly, who was 10 years her senior.
Shortly afterwards he revealed he was a married man, and later left his wife and family for the actress.
The loved-up couple are still set to tie the knot (Lisa Riley)"He started saying he wasn't very happy in his marriage. I saw him out. I shouldn't have done but I did," Lisa said in the book.
The sordid affair hit headlines after his wife sold her story, and Lisa became disgusted with what she'd done.
Thankfully, in 2014 she met her new beau Al after being put in touch through mutual friends.
He proposed to Lisa four years into the relationship, and it is apparent they are in no rush to tie the knot.
Lisa, who has kept her fiance's surname a secret, told the Mirror in 2020 said: "I already call him my husband and he calls me his wife.
"We just haven't gone down the aisle and got the ring and the paperwork.
"In the six years we've been together, we've never spent as much time together as we have this year and we still love each other."