Emmerdale star Lisa Riley calls for Adele Silva to return

Emmerdale star Lisa Riley has called for Adele Silva to make her long-awaited return as Kelly Windsor.

Silva debuted as Kelly on the soap in 1993, departing in 2000 before returning in 2005 for a two-year stint and again in 2011 for a three-month stay.

With her absence now stretching to 12 years, Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle, told Inside Soap that it was about time that Silva should return to the Dales.

ITV

“I want Kelly Windsor back!” she said. “And I think it would work because she has a link to Jimmy [King]. She was Mandy’s best friend, and me and Adele Silva are still really close.

“I think she’s a great actress and there’s a lot of untold stories there,” she added. “For example, what did Kelly and Mandy get up to when I wasn’t in the show for all those years?”

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Silva, who has also appeared in Doctor Who and Hollyoaks, discussed the possibility of returning to Emmerdale as recently as December 2022, saying that she was a “great” character.

london, england november 14 adele silva attends the tv choice awards 2022 on november 14, 2022 in london, england photo by mike marslandwireimage

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“I’d definitely go back if they asked me,” she said. “Obviously Kelly’s son is there and she’s not seen him for years. Then there’s little April. You can imagine Marlon’s face if her auntie Kelly turned up. He’d be horrified.

“Mandy was Kelly’s best friend – I love that Lisa’s back as Mandy. We’re still really close. We try to catch up as much as we can,” she added, before discussing what she loved about playing Kelly. “She’d make the bitchiest comments. But as an actor she was a joy of a character as she’d say things you’d never dream of saying in real life.”

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.