EMMER-HELL
Inside Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter’s turbulent life off screen – from IVF to botched boob job and broken engagement
Lucy thinks "it’s important to be honest about everything to do with how they got here"
EMMERDALE star Lucy Pargeter shared her tense and emotional real life events away from the soap - from surgery horror to her IVF journey.
Lucy Pargeter has played Chas Dingle on the ITV soap since 2002, with major storylines from her heart-breaking baby loss storyline to being held captive and meeting her half-sister Gennie.
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And now the feisty landlady of the Woolpack is at the centre of a gripping new breast cancer storyline.
Talking about the storyline, Lucy revealed how "Chas saw her own mother [Faith Dingle] ultimately die after an incurable breast cancer diagnosis, so for Chas to receive a breast cancer diagnosis herself, makes it all the more poignant."
The 47-year-old actress' life off screen has also been challenging, and we dive into her life including
She welcomed her first child, Lola, in 2005 with former fiancé and football coach Rudi Coleano
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They tried for another baby for 11 years, but were unable to conceive, so they turned to IVF.
In 2017 they were overjoyed when twins Missy and Betsy were born.
She told : "Having IVF was hard but we feel so lucky the girls have come along. I think it’s important to be honest about everything to do with how they got here."
But in 2019, Lucy and Rudi announced their separation after 12 years together.
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She spoke about her fear that she would never find love again as a single mum.
However, it was recently confirmed that she has met a new man, but has decided to keep his identity a secret - for now.
Emmerdale's Aaron Dingle hides devastating secret from mum Chas
She told the Heal Is Real podcast: "I’m in a new relationship now. Exclusive. Don’t say anything.
"Massive fear for me being a single mother of three, possibly finding someone else to spend the rest of my life with and thinking, ‘oh my god, the first thing I’m going to have to say is I’ve got no t*ts. I used to have t*ts, so imagine me with t*ts, but now I’ve got no t*ts’."
Lucy was candid about her decision to have her breast implants removed in the same year she split from Rudi, because they were making it difficult for her to breathe.
She told The Sun: "They are out. I’m as flat as a pancake, I look awful but feel good. When I woke up in recovery, the first thing I did was panic because I could breathe - I could take in a massive breath.
"I thought they were trying to give me too much oxygen – I panicked. I forgot what it was like to have a full lung of air. I mean, it’s amazing - I can breathe."
She also revealed that just four days after she first had the implants, she decided she was going out for the night.
And all of a sudden, incision area split open.
She shared: "I got home, got in the bath and put my cream on that they used to give you for the scars, and my finger just disappeared inside my boob.
"I’d been out, and I’d been dancing all night and obviously it had split. I hadn’t felt a thing because the anaesthetic was still in there.
"I held my boob together going through Regent's Park in London over the speed bumps, thinking 'My boob's going to fall out on the floor'.
"I went back to the surgeon who asked me to wait for half an hour while he cleaned his car, then repaired me up with no anaesthesia but a whiskey.
"Sewn back up with a glass of whiskey and a needle, lying on a couch in a consultant's room."
The Nottingham-born star wasn't always on TV as she was in a pop group called Paperdolls, who toured with Boyzone in the '90s.
Lucy also sang as Spice Girl Emma Bunton on Stars in Their Eyes and came third in Soapstar Superstar in 2006.
Meanwhile on Emmerdale, viewers saw Chas leave the village - but only temporarily.
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She decided to take a short break with her daughter Eve before starting treatment in a few weeks.
Emmerdale airs weeknights from 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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