At the age of 41, she shocked fans when Lisa Riley revealed she was exploring IVF after finding love with her fiancé Al.
However just one month later, Lisa Rileys dreams of becoming a mum came crashing down, as doctors sadly confirmed the procedure would likely end in failure. Nevertheless, Lisa remained positive, and later announced her engagement to Al, showing off her diamond dazzler on Instagram in May.
And when we sit down for a chat with the actress – who rose to fame on ITVs Emmerdale – she clearly has a spring in her step, gushing, Als unbelievably supportive. Here, as she releases her book Lose Weight for Life, Lisa opens up about the truth behind her pregnancy struggle and her amazing transformation, after losing an incredible 12st and having a stone of excess skin removed last year …
“Lose Weight for Life is a book for women of all shapes and sizes, who just want to shed that little bit of weight. Any aspect of losing weight that people are worried about, I hope to give them the answer. There are so many more opportunities to make a change in this book.
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“I just want to be the person I deserve to be! IVF didnt work for me, but I dont want plan B, C, D or E. I cant go around wishing I was a mum because thats not going to be me. I was put in a situation where I did feel bullied. It was like, Oh, youve got an amazing body, dont you want a baby? And actually, I dont want a child!
“And this whole thing of feeling incomplete – why is that? I couldnt feel more complete if I tried. Im the cliché of a naughty auntie and I have my nephews, who I have sleepovers with when I go back to Manchester. That brings music to my ears.
“Am I 100% body-confident? Yes! I feel like Ive got the correct figure. Im a woman – Ive got curves in the right places, and Im who I want to be. The feeling I get now when I go shopping for clothes and beautiful underwear is one money cant buy!”
She continued, “There isnt a day where I dont get wound up, but dont have insecurities as such. I have wound scars from my skin operations. I dont have a problem with them, but when I go to gym classes, I can see other people looking as the wound on my left arm is still quite deep. I just make a joke out of it saying things like, Ive spent the night with Edward Scissorhands.'”
“Lots of things make me cry, like the second anyone mentions my mum [who passed away in 2012 from cancer]. Ill probably cry about it till the day I die, but crying is wonderful and we should embrace it.”
During our chat, Lisa also discussed her relationship with fiance Al, saying how hes been with her through everything.
“Al is unbelievably supportive of my fitness journey! Hes been there throughout everything – the person I was before, my operation, and then my life now. When you fall in love with someone, you dont go, “OK, you have to look like this to fall in love!” Its about whats inside.
“The reason relationships dont work in this industry is because people put them in the public eye. My life with Al is my life and I like to keep it private. Just as pregnant women have a natural bloom, people always say to me, “God, you are glowing!” And thats because I am happy and I dont want that ruined.”
The star recently announced her engagement – and luckily, she dished on when and where the big day might be…
“Will we have a traditional wedding? This will probably be the longest engagement! Even when I wear my ring it sort of feels claustrophobic. If we do it, we will probably be in America one day, and one of us will say, Do you want to get married today?'”
Lose Weight for Life by Lisa Riley (Michael Joseph, £16.99). Out 12 July
The post Lisa Riley: I felt bullied into having a child appeared first on Woman Magazine.
