Lisa Riley feels "proud to be boring" after pulling the plug on the "wild" nights out she used to go on during her first stint as Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle.
The 43-year-old actress initially played the character from 1995 to 2001, but after quitting alcohol she cannot believe she used to drink bottles of red wine the night before a 7am start on set, and doesn’t miss her bread and butter-filled hangovers.
She said: "I do live out my naughtiness now through her [Mandy]. I was wild when I was here last time. Now I am proud to be boring. I am really happy in my own little world.
"Now I always feel fresh and I can’t wait for that email at 9pm on a Saturday when my new Emmerdale scripts arrive.
"In the old days I wouldn’t even be in at 9pm on a Saturday.
"I probably would be out until 3am Sunday, then rough all day eating a loaf of Warburtons smothered in Lurpak to ease the hangover. That doesn’t happen anymore. I am up early, ready to go for a walk, ready to work.
"How on earth did I used to go out every night after work, drink two bottles of red wine until 11pm, then be back on set at 7am the next day and still know my lines? I have no idea."
Lisa turned to wine as a "comfort blanket" following her mum’s death in 2012, but has been sober for the last four years.
She is engaged to fiance Al, but has decided against having a "big, white wedding" because she wouldn’t want to see an empty spot where her mother should’ve been sitting.
Lisa said: "Every little girl dreams about their dad walking them down the aisle on their wedding day and so do I.
"But I also have that empty front pew syndrome – I couldn’t have the big white wedding and see the empty space on the front row where my mum would be.
"So when me and Al do get married we will go off and do it quietly and then have a big party for all our friends and family.
"We already call each other husband and wife anyway. We don’t need a big, white wedding."
The couple have had unsuccessful IVF attempts in a bid to fall pregnant, but the star is still hopeful she will be able to have a baby naturally.
She added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I wouldn’t go down the IVF route now but I will let nature take its course and, if I did fall pregnant, I would be thrilled.
"But I am not going to dwell on it. No one is going to give me bad news again."
Lisa Riley ‘proud to be boring’ after quitting ‘wild’ nights out
