Emmerdale's Chas Dingle's real life from forgotten music career to IVF battle

12 September 2023 , 17:30

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Lucy Pargeter's life off-screen is less hectic than Chas Dingle's (Image: WireImage)

Fans of the ITV soap Emmerdale will know that Chas Dingle has led a turbulent life, with storylines including becoming the prime suspect in the murder of Tom King, her affair with her niece Debbie's fiancé Cameron Murray, developing post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing Robert Sugden being shot and her grief over the loss of her father Shadrach, sister Gennie, and best friend Katie Sugden.

Lucy Pargeter bagged the role as Chas in 2002 after a few smaller acting gigs, and in the same year that she also began playing Helen Raven in Crossroads. She trained at the Central Junior Television Workshop and New College in Nottingham before landing her very first role in the TV movie The Bare Necessities in 1996.

She has been playing Chas Dingle on Emmerdale since 2002

And before she became a soap mega-star, Lucy actually had a different dream entirely - she wanted to be a singer. The actress was in a band called Paperdolls in the 90s and their track Gonna Make You Blush reached number 65 in the UK charts. The band also went on tour with Boyzone, and Lucy even had a brief stint on Stars in Their Eyes where she transformed into Spice Girls legend Emma Bunton.

When she did land the part of Chas Dingle, it hadn't actually been the role she was going for. She'd actually auditioned to play Chas' cousin Charity Dingle, but the role went to Emma Atkins. However, Emmerdale bosses were so impressed that they decided to write Chas' character around Lucy's audition.

She previously told Inside Soap: "I'd auditioned for a couple of parts before – one was a trucker and one was Charity. I got down to the final three for that. I knew James Hooton who plays Sam Dingle from drama classes and he said to me, 'Apparently you did something weird with your head in the audition and that put them off!', so I was like, 'Oh god!'. Then he called me and said there was a rumour they were bringing in another Dingle woman; they wanted her to be a bit like Charity but they were thinking about my audition and writing it around that. So I knew Chas would be strong and feisty."

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Lucy's love life is a lot less complicated than Chas' too, although it has had its ups and downs. The actress was in a relationship with former partner Rudi Coleano for 12 years before they went their separate ways in 2019. The exes have three daughters together - Lola, 18, and twins Missy and Betsy, seven - and it was said at the time of their split that their "main priority" would be co-parenting their children.

Lucy split from Rudi Coleano in 2019 (Getty Images)

She has three daughters with Rudi, including twins (@lucy_pargeter/Instagram)

A representative for Lucy said at the time: "Lucy Pargeter has confirmed she has separated from her long-term partner Rudi Coleano and while no longer together their main priority is raising their three daughters."

Lucy's journey to motherhood wasn't an easy one and her pregnancies came after undergoing IVF. She later said she was happy to be able to show "the reality" of someone who has had children, as she "comes second" to her daughters. She explained: "I'd rather be the reality of someone who has just had a child than the unrealistic version some people portray. I don't look how I used to – there are a few things I'm not happy with – but right now my children are my priority and I come second."

In November last year, Lucy confirmed she had started a new romance with a mystery man, and said she had been worried about her chances of finding love as a single mum-of-three but was very happy with her new beau.

She said: "I'm in a new relationship now. Exclusive. Don't say anything. Massive fear for me being a single mother of three, possibly finding someone else to spend the rest of my life with and thinking, 'Oh my god, the first thing I'm going to have to say is I've got no t*ts. I used to have t*ts, so imagine me with t*ts, but now I’ve got no t*ts'. I constantly find myself apologising for having no t*ts, but he's like, 'I don't give a [bleep] if you've got t*ts or not. It's you that I love and it’' you who I want to be with."

Zahna Eklund