Confident Lisa has 'big plans'

She was a hit in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, and now Lisa Riley is looking forward to a bumper year ahead

- Leo Roberts

Fresh from her emotional stint in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, Emmerdale actress Lisa Riley is going into the New Year happier than ever – and there won't be a glass of bubbly in sight.

The star, who lost 20lb during her time in the camp, ditched alcohol 10 years ago, with a source telling new the decision has transformed her life.

“After quitting the booze she feels really good. She's clearheaded, she's getting up in the morning, she's not feeling low,” the source said. “She's really enjoying life without it.”

Opening up while in the jungle, Lisa explained how her drinking escalated after her mother Cath passed away in 2012 from cancer. In a candid conversation with her campmates, she confessed she used alcohol to numb her pain.

“When Mum died, I genuinely couldn't cope,” she said, describing booze as “the biggest plaster I could put on myself”.

Lisa has previously revealed how losing her beloved mum left her so devastated the only thing that soothed her was drinking. She said, “The wine took the edge off, it truly, truly did. I was a bit of a grey cloud, because I wasn't happy in myself.”

The soap star, 49, admitted she would routinely drink “three bottles of Malbec every night”, adding, “Mentally, I needed it.”