Lisa Riley has hit out at a fake AI-generated post that falsely claimed she is pregnant, following years of fertility struggles and IVF treatment.
The Emmerdale actress, 50, shared a screenshot on Instagram on Monday of an AI-generated Facebook post that claimed she was expecting. The fake image showed her holding up a scan on Loose Women, before cradling a baby and posing alongside her partner Al Benković.
"THIS HAS TO STOP!!!!! It's absolutely horrendous!!! Saying that I'm pregnant again!!" Riley wrote in her caption. "How is this allowed it makes me so upset... what world do we live in that these lies, and more lies are allowed to be put in the public domain. I'm sick to death of it now!!!"
She went on to share a post from ITV addressing the issue, which read: "It has been brought to our attention that a lot of AI generated Facebook pages are posting fake news about Emmerdale and Coronation Street actors and the programmes in general."
"Some of these posts are extremely hurtful and damaging to reputations. Please only follow genuine news outlets and feel free to report those you think are fake via the usual methods," the ITV statement continued.
Not the first fake pregnancy claim
This is not the first time Riley has had to deny false pregnancy rumours. Back in January, she addressed similar "fake" claims that she was pregnant.
"I am 100 per cent not pregnant, I have been inundated today with congratulations about that. Do you know what makes this even more sick?" she said at the time. "Is the fact that only this week on Loose Women, I was talking about the fact that me and Al, my other half, we couldn't get pregnant."
Opening up about IVF and fertility struggles
Around that time, Riley spoke candidly about her fertility struggles as a guest panellist on Loose Women, alongside Kaye Adams, Janet Street-Porter and Oti Mabuse. Riley, who is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in ITV's Emmerdale, has been in a relationship with Al since 2014.
The discussion followed Adams revealing that abortions had been reported to be at a record high in England and Wales, prompting the panel to speak openly about contraception and related topics.
Riley explained that, having been raised Catholic, she was taught not to use contraception or have sex before marriage. She said that belief stayed with her, and that she later prioritised her career before trying for a baby with Al, by which point she was unable to conceive.
"I would have given everything in my life to have had a child," she said. She added that she tried everything until Al told her she had to stop the IVF treatment because it was "diminishing" her and "taking her personality away."
Feeling like a 'jigsaw with a missing piece'
Riley told the panel that although she considers herself lucky to have a close family unit, including her nephew and niece, she still struggled with the experience. "I felt like a jigsaw with a missing piece," she said, describing herself as feeling "diminished" by her inability to conceive.
She said there are still times at work when she finds conversations about the topic difficult, including when colleagues at Emmerdale become pregnant. "I'm over the moon for them, but there is always going to be that little, little scuff in the back of my head going 'It didn't quite work out for me,' and I have to find peace in that," she said. "Thank God I've got Al, because you do that together."
