Emmerdale star Lisa Riley has opened up about her nine-year sobriety milestone during an interview on Lorraine.

Speaking to host Ranvir Singh on Thursday (August 15), Riley said she used alcohol to “self medicate” following the death of her mother.

“I’ve spoken a lot about this. I was self medicating with alcohol,” Riley said. “I wasn’t sleeping because I’d lost my mum and I wasn’t coping very well.”

According to Riley, who stars as Emmerdale’s Mandy Dingle, she was drinking two bottles of Malbec a night to help her sleep before quitting altogether.

Riley, who will be celebrating being nine years sober on Monday, said of the upcoming anniversary: “I’m going to be nine years sober, I just stopped drinking for the good and the better for me. I prefer me now I’m sober. I never thought that I’d be sat here with you now saying that this coming Monday I’m nine years sober.”

Explaining that she couldn’t get through events without alcohol, Riley revealed how she would play games with herself about how long she could go without alcohol, saying: “All of a sudden you become obsessed.”

“I never thought that I’d be here now, I love it,” she added. “The fake me has completely gone and I don’t ever want to have that back because it’s a better place to be.”

Mandy Dingle’s future following a day of wedding drama.

Viewers will know Paddy and Mandy’s wedding was nearly called off after it was revealed that Mandy had been working as an online dominatrix. The pair did, however, end up tying the knot in an emotional episode.

Teasing the future of Mandy’s dominatrix career, Riley said: “The things they give Mandy to do are out there, a little bit bonkers, a little bit crazy and there’s more to come.”