Emmerdale's Lisa Riley pays tribute to Steve Halliwell with RadioTimes.com Soap Awards win

"Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous that I've won Best Comedy Performance," she began. "I don't even think I'm funny! It is the writers at Emmerdale, they're amazing.

"I'm sure they have three glasses of Malbec when they write for Mandy. But it's a joy. It's a true joy to play Mandy, I love it every single day and I love working with other brilliant comedy characters like the amazing Dominic Brunt playing Paddy.

"I'm really blessed [and] I'm only funny because they're funny – that's the truth of it, really."

Riley first appeared on the soap between 1995 and 2001, before taking an extended absence that continued until Mandy Dingle's re-introduction in 2019.

Both stints saw her work closely with the late Halliwell, who played Mandy's uncle Zak Dingle for almost 30 years, but sadly died late last year after a period of illness.

Riley reflected in her acceptance speech: "The one true comedy icon is Steve Halliwell, Uncle Zak, the love of my life. All them years ago when I was a kid, he taught me so many comedic skills.

"So I'd like to please say thank you to everyone who voted for me, but I'd like to dedicate this award to our lovely Steve Halliwell."

Although Zak Dingle was not formally written out of the soap before Halliwell's passing, it has been announced that the character will die off-screen and a moving funeral service will be held for him.

Emmerdale producer Sophie Roper explained: "As many of you will know, of course, we lost Steve recently... So we're going to be marking Zak's passing, [the] iconic Zak Dingle character, in the coming months with a Dingle funeral.

"[It will be] so very difficult for a lot of people who work on the show and, obviously, for a lot of our viewers who have grown and loved Zak for many, many years. But it will be a hugely fitting tribute to such an iconic character."

Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV. Stream on ITVX.

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