When Lisa Riley was voted off I’m A Celebrity in fifth place last week she declared that she still felt like a winner.
After narrowly missing out on a place in the final, the 49-year-old soap star was in tears as she spoke to Ant & Dec about her time in camp.
Yet it wasn’t the trials or being voted off that reduced Lisa to tears, but the fact that hosts declared her ‘camp mama’, showing her a montage of times in which she helped her fellow campmates.
As AngryGinge, 24, declared in the Bush Telegraph that Lisa was ‘very mothering, very caring’, Lisa began to well up, explaining to the hosts: ‘I’ve not been lucky enough to be a mother in life, so if I was able to be the Jungle mum, bring it on.
‘People just kept coming to me for advice and a cuddle. We’ve all been through things in our own lives and when you’ve got life experience you can share it with the truth and also go “I understand what you’re going through and my heart feels the same as yours does”.
‘So I’m happy to be Mama Bear. If I’m Mama Bear of this Jungle then I feel like I’ve won already, having that title.’
Lisa has been open about her fertility struggles, having been told by medical experts that it is unlikely she will ever conceive due to the poor quality of her eggs.
She had attempted IVF with fiancé Al following her dramatic 12 stone weight loss, but was left devastated when doctors delivered the news.
Lisa first opened up about her fertility struggles in 2018, telling Daily Mail’s You magazine that she was going to try IVF at the age of 41.
It was the first time she had decided to look into her fertility having previously sworn she wouldn’t have a baby after losing her mother and both grandmothers to cancer.
She felt she couldn’t take the risk of leaving her child without a mother if she, too, fell victim to the disease.
Yet after her weight loss, she changed her mind, explaining: ‘When I went in to have surgery to remove the loose flesh after I lost all my weight, the first thing that came into my head when I saw my surgeon was, “Can I still have kids after all the surgery?”
‘I was worried that because my skin had been cut it would no longer stretch…
‘I’ve decided not to live in fear. I want to have IVF but I’m not going to put myself through a lot of stress if it doesn’t work.
‘There are a lot of reasons why I want to have a baby: some to do with the fact I’ve saved myself by losing weight, but also that I’m in love for the first time in my life and he would like to have a baby if we can.
‘I don’t just think about myself any more. If we were to have a child, that would be wonderful.’
Lisa has been open about her fertility struggles, having been told by medical experts that it is unlikely she will ever conceive due to the poor quality of her eggs (pictured in 2024)
Lisa changed her mind about having children after her 12-stone weight loss, explaining her first thought after having her excess skin removed was whether she could still carry children (pictured, left in 2012 and right, in 2017)
However, IVF didn’t work for Lisa and later that year she made the decision not to continue undergoing treatment.
‘People think women need to have a child to complete themselves, but that just isn’t the case,’ she told The Mirror, explaining she ‘refuses to be defined’ by her infertility.
Describing IVF as ’emotionally draining’, she continued: ‘I feel that I have taken ownership of the situation now. I have seen other people go through years and years of IVF treatment and the stress and pressure that creates.
‘I don’t want to do that. We have decided now that we aren’t going to go down that route, and now that we have made that decision, I could not be happier’.
Lisa’s infertility struggle came back into the spotlight when her Emmerdale character Mandy Dingle suffered a miscarriage in a heartbreaking storyline.
Speaking in 2021 she explained to Closer Magazine about why she will not continue trying – stating that she has a ‘bl**dy beautiful life’.
She said: ‘Al would never want me to go through IVF again because he said he lost the girl he fell in love with… I may not have 2.4 kids and a dog but I have a beautiful bloody life. I wouldn’t change it for the world, I’m so lucky.’
Lisa revealed on Digital Spy’s Soap Scoop podcast, that she didn’t feel like she was ‘missing out on anything’ but that she felt people were treating her differently.
Lisa’s infertility struggle came back into the spotlight when her Emmerdale character Mandy Dingle (pictured on the show) suffered a miscarriage in a heartbreaking storyline
She explained: ‘I’m elated we’re discussing it [infertility] because it’s opened a massive door for me as well… I’ve spoken openly in my own personal life, where my IVF didn’t work and people treat you differently.
‘It’s like “oh and are you okay with that?”… I’m very happy that in my own personal life I have a family, my niece, my two beautiful nephews are a huge part of my life – so yeah I don’t have a child of my own, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.’
Lisa has made a home with her fiancé – the ‘very talented and very, very lovely’ musician Al – who she met through friends in 2014.
Al popped the question in May 2018, with the actress declaring him ‘the love of her life’ as she revealed the happy news on Twitter.
She flashed the new silver engagement ring in a selfie and wrote: ‘Yes I can now confirm the rumours are true…’
‘I have got engaged… my soul mate and best mate and love of my life.
‘Al is the best thing to have ever happened to me…. we have absolutely NO date set for ANY wedding day, just happy together… zero fuss, just firmed our togetherness.’
Despite being engaged, she later revealed the devastating reason why she will never marry Al, after being engaged for over a decade.
Lisa has made a home with her fiancé – the ‘very talented and very, very lovely’ musician Al – who she met through friends in 2014 – and he surprised her in the Jungle
Al popped the question in May 2018, with the actress declaring him ‘the love of her life’ as she revealed the happy news on Twitter
The actress explained that she already feels married and couldn’t cope with such a huge event without the couple’s parents in attendance.
Lisa explained her other half ‘has no parents’ and so they would not like to do the day without those they love the most.
She told The Mirror: ‘We’re already married, but not married and honestly, I truly couldn’t cope with the big day without my mum by my side. Why would I want to put myself through that?
‘Al lost his mum not long ago, and he’s got no parents. Thank God I’ve got Dad. But you know, we’re not kids – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
I’m A Celebrity fans saw Lisa’s strong bond with Al when he surprised her in camp during the final week.
Viewers will see how Lisa got on outside the Jungle during the reunion show.
