Lisa Riley wants to film Emmerdale in Ireland because her character 'loves drinking'

The 45-year-old actress, who recently came to Ireland on holidays, was inspired by her visit to film “some episodes in Ireland.”

"The show has done it before,” she told Inside Soap magazine.

“Paddy and Marlon went on location to Belfast when Paddy's dad Bear was introduced."

Lisa, who has starred in the ITV soap since 1995, reckons that her character would enjoy the drinking culture in Ireland.

"The Dingles have relatives in Ireland, I'm sure Mandy has a cousin in Galway. Then there's the drinking, Mandy would love that!"

Despite her on-screen persona being fond of the booze, Riley gave it the boot seven years ago in favour of a healthier lifestyle.

Appearing on One For The Road podcast she confessed that her party lifestyle often left her feeling terrible.

“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.”

Lisa said she’d often wake up the following morning in shock at the state of herself and her house.

“It's when you look in the mirror and you go, ‘I look a little bit crappy, I don't look like myself’.”

She also confessed that her drinking meant that she didn’t get to spend enough time with her late mother who died of cancer in 2012.

“I blame that party time, where I was always hungover the next day, where I wasn't myself, as hours I could've gained when mum was alive.”

She also said that following her death she used booze as a crutch.

“The wine took the edge off - it truly, truly did,” she explained. “I was a bit of a grey cloud, because I wasn't happy in myself.”

“The smell, that's one of the things that will never make me drink again, only when you don't drink can you smell it.”