Mandy Dingle

Amanda Rose 'Mandy' Dingle is the wife of Paddy Dingle, daughter of Caleb and Vera-Lynn Dingle and a mother-figure to Vinny who she raised as her own after his father Paul Ashdale left them. 
Mandy wed her own cousin Butch Dingle in 1998 then Paddy Kirk in 1999. She left Emmerdale two years later after her marriage to Paddy dissolved, and eventually becomes the head of security at a line of casinos.
Twenty years later, she returned with teenager Vinny, who Mandy claimed be her "secret son", though it was later revealed that Vinny was the son of her former boyfriend, Paul. Mandy raised Vinny when Paul left them. Returning to the village she blackmailed Charity Dingle into giving her a job as a barmaid at The Woolpack and also got a job at Beauty & Bernice.
==Biography==
===1995-2001: Relationship with Paddy Kirk===
Mandy arrived in Emmerdale in July 1995 to live with her uncle Zak, having been disowned by her father, Caleb. She found work as a barmaid at The Woolpack, where her feisty personality made her an instant hit with the locals. Mandy even set up a burger stall called Mandy's Munchbox, which did not last as it was blown up by brothers Jimmy and Colin Batty in March 1997. The caravan itself was later used as a hen house. 
Mandy was initially very promiscuous but the arrival of vet Paddy Kirk in February 1997 proved to be a turning point in her life. She fell in love with Paddy and was willing to settle down and get married but their romance suffered problems. Mandy's cousin Butch overheared Paddy ridiculing their family and he told Mandy so she ordered Paddy out of her house. Paddy left for Ireland, where he had been offered a job but returns to the village shortly after. He and Mandy reconciled after he apologised to her family.
Paddy's mother, Barbara, disapproved of Mandy and, convinced that she will only make Paddy miserable if they marry, paid Mandy to marry Butch instead. Butch had always been in love with Mandy and readily accepted his cousin's proposal, marrying her in a secret registry office ceremony in November 1998. However, despite trying to make her marriage work, Mandy could not ignore the fact that she truly loved Paddy and the former couple soon began an affair behind Butch's back. Butch was livid when he discovered the truth and the Dingle family disowned Mandy for her infidelity, although her uncle Zak and his wife Lisa eventually came round after Paddy delivered their unexpected daughter, Belle, on Christmas Day 1998.
In early 1999, Mandy, working back at The Woolpack, got into a feud with fellow barmaid Tricia Stokes, who was the granddaughter of the landlord Alan Turner. In February 1999, Tricia and Mandy had a huge mud fight in the Woolpack car park. 
Following her divorce from Butch in 1999, Mandy married Paddy and they lived happily in domestic bliss. However, the couple were frequently separated by Mandy's trips to Southampton to care for her sick Father, Caleb. On one occasion, Paddy travelled to Southampton to surprise Mandy, only to discover that she had been having an affair with her Father's nurse. Devastated, Paddy ended their marriage and Mandy left the village. 
She returned briefly the following year in order to win Paddy back after realising the mistake she had made but after realising he was happy and settled with post office worker, Emily Dingle, Butch's widow, Mandy admitted defeat and left the village again.
===2001-2018: Intervening years===
A few years later, Mandy went on a date with a man named Paul Ashdale and met his 9-month-old son Vinny. As fast as she laid her eyes on him she knew right away that someone had to look after him. Mandy and Paul clicked right away and by the end of the week, she moved in with him and Vinny. Initially, they were happy but then Paul got himself into a mess which escalated until one day he left them, only two days after Vinny started school, and never came back. Mandy continued to raise Vinny and became a mother to him. They didn't always have an easy life but Mandy did everything for Vinny, starving just so he could eat. Before arriving in Emmerdale, Mandy decided it was best to pretend Vinny was her biological son as she feared her family wouldn't accept him as part of the family unless they shared blood. 
At some point, Mandy becomes the head of security for a chain of casinos from Southampton to Aberdeen. Her and Vinny made a plan to steal money from the casinos but Terry, the owner, soon got word of what was happening and demanded they get his money back otherwise something bad would happen to Vinny, who would be banned from the gambling joint for life.
In a desperate panic and attempt to flee the casino with some money, Mandy enlisted the help of Charity and set off the fire alarm. They robbed some of the casino money and managed to get away from the fuming Terry, but this didn't stop him from demanding Mandy for his money back. Mandy contemplated moving back to Emmerdale as a result.
===2019-2020: Return to Emmerdale and casino drama===
After over a seventeen-year absence, Mandy returned to the village from Southampton in January 2019 with teenager Vinny, her presumed son. They returned to try and find a crew to pull off a robbery, but were unsuccessful. Her return was an inconclusive situation to the residents of the village and specifically her cousins Marlon and Sam, and ex-husband Paddy. However, at first, upon her return, Mandy was shady to reveal the truth of her return and claimed that it was for the simple reason that she wanted to attend the wedding of Marlon and Jessie Grant.
It became almost immediately apparent that Mandy was indeed back in the village when a fight between her and Chas Dingle broke out in the aftermath of the wedding ceremony. However, the pair finally made amends and Mandy was a consoling soul to Chas when she opened up about Grace, but that didn't stop Marlon demanding answers. Marlon thought that Vinny was Paddy's "secret son" and that Mandy had returned to tell him this, but Mandy revealed that Paddy is not Vinny's father. Afterwards, Mandy opened up that she found a source that could claim that the father Paddy thought was his, wasn't and it was, in fact, a boxer named Bear Wolf.
When Mandy left the village once more, with a macho man with a trendy car in tow, Vinny asked her why she didn't tell them the real reason she returned and Mandy replied that it wasn't the right time. During Mandy's absence, Bear Wolf was revealed to be Paddy's biological father, and he moved in with Paddy and Chas at The Woolpack after his unexpected arrival in the village.
Mandy returned again in September with Vinny, and while looking around for somewhere to stay walked in on her cousin Marlon's wife Jessie kissing her ex-husband Al Chapman. The truth was revealed to Marlon who was heartbroken, and decided to end his marriage with Jessie for good. They then move in at Butlers Farm where her cousin Cain is staying to the dismay of his wife Moira as the place was already crowded with Chas, Paddy and Paddy's dad Bear moving in after being forced to move out of the Woolpack. 
However, the Dingles were soon upset to discover they hadn't arrived empty-handed but were trying to cash chips and money stolen from a casino, valued at 20k. Relative, Aaron, helps her get the money but they get in a fight when he wants half for himself and when Mandy tries to take the money he burns it all, claiming she didn't deserve any of it. However, Mandy soon discovers the money he burnt were fake and he has kept to all for himself and his husband Robert. She demands to get it back and when they refuse she vows that they'll regret it. Terry returns to try and get his money from Mandy and Vinny, but they are saved by Sam Dingle who threatens Terry with a shovel and he finally leaves when his fiancee Lydia Hart pays him off. 
In November 2019, Mandy blackmails Charity Dingle into giving her a permanent job as a barmaid at the Woolpack, threatening to tell her fiancee that she assisted them in the casino scam. Mandy then assists Lydia in attempting to uncover her true identity, and eventually realises that her mother, Agatha Finn, is still alive. She also got a job at Beauty & Bernice. 
In January 2020, after Marlon was arrested on the suspicion of murdering Graham Foster, Mandy and the other Dingles went to the police station in an attempt to get him free. Mandy was devastated when Marlon was charged and denied bail, meaning he'd have to stay in prison until his trial in June. Later on, Mandy helped cheer up April by promising her that they will get Marlon free and the real killer won't get away with it. They struggled to get enough engagement in the campaign and by late February Mandy was ready to give up. However, on 25th February, Rhona Goskirk captivated the village when she live-streamed her ex-husband Pierce Harris admitting to the murder. Pierce was soon arrested causing Marlon to be freed, however, he was soon furious with Mandy when she invited a reporter for his release in order to show the world he was innocent. 
===2020 to present: Return of Paul===
In March 2020, Vinny admitted to Lydia, Sam and Sam's son Samson that he wasn't really a Dingle. However, after hearing the story of how Mandy raised him as her own they all welcomed him to the family. 
In April 2020, Mandy became heavily involved in the preparations for Sam and Lydia's wedding and went out on a wild hen night with Lydia ending with Mandy getting stranded in the middle of nowhere just before the wedding. She attempted to catch a ride back to the village and was shocked when seeing the man driving the car that finally stopped was no other than Paul. He explained he was a changed man and wanted to see his son but Mandy lied, telling him Vinny had left Emmerdale and she didn't know where he was. The following day, Lydia found a ripped up picture of Many, Vinny and Paul and confronted her. Mandy opened up about what happened and Lydia tried to convince her Vinny deserved to know about his father but Mandy admits she's worried if he gets his claws into Vinny, she could lose him for good. Lydia agrees to not tell Vinny about Paul looking for him. 
==Notes==
Mandy once cooked Trotter Broth followed by Boiled Tripe in Nettle and Onion sauce to impress Paddy.
==Quotes==
"I'll do one, I'll do one!" - first line.
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"No-one cheats on a Dingle and gets away with it!" - to Butch and Marlon Dingle.
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Lisa: 'Ello, Mandy, what can I do for you?Mandy: You can stick your chin on the end of this!Mandy punches Lisa after finding out she is married to Barry Clegg.
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"You explain it to Uncle Zak. I'll give you 'till 5 o'clock. If you haven't owned up by then, I'd dig yourself a big hole, 'cause this farm is where World War III's gonna be startin'!" - to Lisa Dingle.
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"See ya Charity! Good luck with ya wedding!" - final line before her 2001 departure, to Charity Dingle.
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"Missed me Sammy?" - first line after her 2019 return, to Sam Dingle.
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"You're a cheating skank. You're not going to talk your way out of this one." - to Jessie Dingle.
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"Every denial is one more horrible thing I’m going to do to you, and that’s after you give me the money, which is happening now by the way." - to Robert Sugden and Aaron Dingle.
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==See also==
*Full list of appearances
Category:Emmerdale characters
Category:Current characters
Category:The Dingles Down Under characters
Category:The Dingles in Venice characters
Category:1977 births
Category:1995 debuts
Category:1998 marriages
Category:1999 marriages
Category:2024 marriages
Category:Dingle family
Category:Kirk family
Category:Residents of Wishing Well Cottage
Category:Residents of Keepers Cottage
Category:Residents of Smithy Cottage
Category:Residents of Butlers Farm
Category:Residents of Tall Trees Cottage
Category:Residents of Tenant House
Category:Barmaids
Category:Businesswomen
Category:Security guards
Category:Hairdressers
Category:Convicts
Category:Woolpack employees
Category:Beauty & Bernice employees
Category:PampaManda employees