With her glowing skin, glossy hair and infectious smile, Lucy Pargeter radiates relaxed Hollywood glamour at our OK! Magazine photoshoot. So we can't believe it when the Emmerdale beauty tells us that in real life, dressing up just isn't her thing.
"I don't like dressing up," confides Lucy. "That's why you won't find me at many awards ceremonies. It fills me with dread. I don't do my hair. I'm lucky if I wipe my make-up off at night!"
Maybe so, but during our shoot, Lucy exudes style and poise before falling in love with several suits, some fine knits and a luxuriously chunky cardigan as she quips, "It's a good job I've just been paid!"
Blessed with a classic bone structure and long limbs, Lucy insists she's very low maintenance at home. "It's fun," she says. "But I can't wait to get home and get in the PJs and put my hair up in a top knot."
Waiting for her at home are her children - Lola, 18, and her twins, Missy and Betsy, six. Then there are her three dogs, Bertie, Pearl and Lennie, plus her beloved bearded dragon, Nala.
If that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she's also known to millions as Emmerdale's indomitable pub landlady Chas Dingle, who is currently about to have a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with triple-A breast cancer.
The scenes have been intense and emotional, but with her full family life, Lucy has learnt not to bring her work home with her.
"It is hard," she shares. "The days are long and daunting. There's a lot of emotion, but the days of me taking it home with me are long gone."
"When I walk into that house I'm a mum of three kids, I've got three dogs and I've got a whole load more lines to learn for the next day. My family snaps me out of it."
On screen, Chas learns her cancer is caused by the faulty BRCA2 gene and that her children Aaron (Danny Miller) and Eve could have inherited it.
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