Emmerdale star Lisa Riley has revealed she used alcohol as a “comfort blanket” following her mother’s death.
The 45-year-old actress, who plays Mandy Dingle on the ITV soap, recently revealed that she would previously turn to booze to cope in times of stress.
Lisa’s mum tragically passed away in 2012 and speaking recently, the Three Girls star revealed that she turned to wine which “took the edge off” her difficult emotions.
She also revealed that while she “didn’t consider herself an alcoholic”, she would often keep her home stocked with booze, leading to wild parties that would leave her house resembling a “squat”.
(Image: Getty Images)
Lisa told the One For The Road podcast: “I don’t think that I would ever wear the badge and say, [I was] an alcoholic.
“I truly don’t think I was.
“I think I was very very [dependent] on drink and as some people might take an antidepressant as it were, that was mine.
“It was my comfort blanket and I always say that.”
(Image: ITV)
During the podcast, Lisa also shared how she would stock her home with an “endless supply” of booze in order to “keep the party going”.
The former Loose Women panellist added: “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Why does everybody come back to my house?’
“Well, because there was a bar. There was an endless supply of drink.
“I wanted to keep the party going and I drove that for many many years.”
(Image: ITV)
The “toxic” cycle only came to an end when Lisa quit drinking five years ago, after “looking in the mirror” and concluding that she “didn’t look like herself”.
On her decision to quit, Lisa said: “I don’t want to be that person anymore.”
Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
