Chas Dingle (also Spencer) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lucy Pargeter. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 October 2002. Chas returned on 21 September 2003. Chas was absent for six months in 2005 when Pargeter took maternity leave. She left temporarily on 5 June 2005, and returned full-time from 13 December 2005.In 2013, Pargeter announced that she would be taking a short break from the show in order to appear in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Pargeter was briefly recast for one episode on 20 December 2016 to provide an alternative physical appearance to the character through the eyes of Ashley Thomas (John Middleton). Chas departed temporarily once again on 31 March 2017 when Pargeter took a second maternity leave. Pargeter confirmed her return to filming on 31 August 2017. Chas returned on 25 October 2017. Chas' main storylines have focused on her turbulent relationship with Carl King (Tom Lister), becoming a prime suspect in the murder of Tom King (Ken Farrington), discovering she has a half-sister Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams), rebuilding a relationship with her son Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) who she abandoned as a child, her relationship with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), disputing with her niece Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) after having an affair with Debbie's ex-partner Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), her grief over the loss of her father Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine), sister Gennie and best friend Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward), developing PTSD, discovering her son's childhood abuse at the hands of his father Gordon Livesy (Gary Mavers), discovering she is pregnant with Paddy's child who won't survive birth and becoming pregnant again with their second daughter, Eve.