Emmerdale legend ‘so proud’ of co-star after ‘tough days’ on set

Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley has gushed over her co-star Eden Taylor-Draper’s performance as Belle Dingle in the ITV soap

**Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley has opened up about her bond with Eden Taylor-Draper (Image: ITV)**

As Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) gets ready to wed Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) in future Emmerdale scenes, happiness is in store for her.

But Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper), who lives across the hamlet, is determined to leave her violent husband Tom King’s (James Chase) grip on her marriage.

Actress Lisa Riley expressed her pride in her co-star to OK!, saying she can’t believe the differences in the relationships.

“We’ve just had Belle and Tom’s wedding, which is very different from Paddy and Mandy’s,” Lisa comments. “As a program, it’s amazing that we’ve taken a supposed to be magnificent wedding with Belle and Tom and as it’s unfolded since then, it’s been terrible and it keeps getting worse.”When it comes to Eden, I’m the proudest aunt; I get emotional about it,” Lisa said.

**Eden, who portrays Belle Dingle, calls Lisa the “proudest aunt” ever. (Photo by Mark Bruce/ITV)**

“I spoke with Eden when we were filming the dinner party episode, and those were difficult days for her,” Lisa continued.

“Do you know how proud I am of you? I gave her a hug as we returned to the dressing room from day two of filming the dinner party. She’s amazing, and I adore her.”

Eden handles it wonderfully as well, because portraying that feeling takes hard, long days. She has to keep quiet in the corner while the rest of us fool around on the set. I will be her strongest supporter and I want her to succeed in everything.”

**Emmerdale’s dinner party episode was “tough”, says Lisa (Image: Mark Bruce)**

Numerous current stories have revolved on the Dingles, ranging from Lydia Dingle’s (Karen Blick) sexual assault to Marlon Dingle’s (Mark Charnock) stroke and Chas Dingle’s (Lucy Pargeter) breast cancer diagnosis.

“I find the greatest satisfaction in working on an Emmerdale storyline that aims to raise awareness and benefit people.”

For instance, coercive control is a daily occurrence for certain people, and we saw that Chas had a tale involving the loss of his mother to breast cancer. The six of us Dingle females dubbed our shared changing area the “bonkers room.” However, we have a genuine relationship and can all rely on one another.”

**Lisa has high hopes for Mandy and Paddy, who first got married 25 years ago (Image: ITV/Mark Bruce)**

Lisa is really excited about Mandy and Paddy, who were married 25 years ago and have now gotten back together. “It seemed inevitable that Mandy and Paddy would reunite when I returned to the program six years ago.

“He likes her chaos, and they are soulmates and closest friends. Even though she might be crazy, he simply laughs and says, “Well, that’s my girl,” to Mandy.”

In future episodes, the couple hopes to go down the aisle, but the big day might be derailed when a secret is revealed.