Lisa Riley has opened up about the painful grief she has experienced since her mother died in 2012.
Lisa Riley
The soap star - best known to audiences as Mandy Dingle from 'Emmerdale' - lost her beloved mum Cath in July 2012 following a 12-year battle with cancer at the age of 58.
Lisa admits that even nine years later she still has down days about her mum's passing and she can't get over her loss.
She said: "I've spent years trying to raise awareness of the impact as it is something almost all of us will be affected by at some point. When my mum died I didn't want to do anything or see anyone. The phone is non-stop but you don't want to relive it. You feel bad for not texting back but you just can't face it.
"I still sometimes feel, 'Am I supposed to be over it?'"
Lisa insists that grief doesn't really "go away" it's just something you have to learn to live with when you lose a loved one.
Speaking on Sue Ryder's podcast 'Grief Kind', she said: "Fundamentally, it doesn't go away. You learn to live with it and people around you need to understand that."
Lisa also shared some of the more humorous moments that occurred during her mum Cath's final days, including one day when a Catholic priest arrived to read Cath her last rites.
Lisa recalled: "She looks up at the priest and says, 'What the f**k are you doing here?' She looked round and said, 'I feel like I'm in an episode of The Sopranos'."
"She passed at 7:29 that night and it was so peaceful. She was in my arms."
Lisa - who went on to take part in the tenth series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' that same year - fondly remembers how one particular show which was broadcast from Wembley Arena was dedicated to her mum.
She joked: "I'm not blowing smoke up my own bottom here, but I rocked Wembley.
"Bruce Forsyth, God rest his soul, he couldn't speak for the reaction, the crowd. Everyone knew that night it was dedicated to Cath, it was Cath's night."
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