Amanda Rose 'Mandy' Dingle is the daughter of Caleb Dingle and the niece of Zak Dingle.
Mandy wed her own cousin Butch Dingle 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 used to work with her at the casinos. Mandy currently lives in Wishing Well Cottage with Zak, Sam, Belle, Samson, Lydia, and Vinny.
Storylines
1995-2001: Relationship with Paddy Kirk
Mandy arrives in Emmerdale to live with her uncle Zak, having been disowned by her father, Caleb. She finds work as a barmaid at The Woolpack, where her feisty personality makes 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. Mandy was initially very promiscuous but the arrival of vet Paddy Kirk in February 1997 proves to be a turning point in Mandy's life. She falls in love with Paddy and is willing to settle down and get married but their romance suffers problems. Mandy's cousin Butch overhears Paddy ridiculing their family and he tells Mandy so she orders Paddy out of her house and is heartbroken. Paddy leaves for Ireland where he has a job and returns to the village the following month. He and Mandy reconcile after he apologises to her family.
Paddy's mother Barbara disapproves of Mandy and convincing her that she will only make Paddy miserable if they marry, pays 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 cannot ignore the fact that she truly loves Paddy and the former couple soon begin an affair behind Butch's back. Butch is livid when he discovers the truth and the Dingle family disowns Mandy for her infidelity, although her uncle Zak and his wife Lisa eventually come round after Paddy delivers their unexpected daughter Belle on Christmas Day 1998.
Following her divorce from Butch in 1999, Mandy marries Paddy and they live happily in domestic bliss. However, Mandy soon begins feeling inferior as Paddy is a university graduate and she is just a barmaid. With Paddy's encouragement, Mandy enrols in a college course in Hotten, but this proves to be the downfall in their marriage. Whilst at college, Mandy becomes attracted to her lecturer and they eventually embark on an affair. However, when she discovers that her lecturer is only using her for sex, a distraught and guilt-ridden Mandy comes clean to a devastated Paddy. With their marriage over, Mandy then departs the village to live with her best friend, Kelly Windsor, in London in December 2000. She returns briefly the following year in order to win Paddy back after realising the mistake she had made but after realising he is happy and settled with post office worker Emily Dingle, Butch's widow, Mandy admits defeat and leaves the village again.
2001-2018: Intervening years
Mandy as the head of security for a chain of casinos.
At some point, Mandy becomes the head of security for a chain of casinos from Southampton to Aberdeen. It was her job to keep an eye on everything, from the punters to the sticky fingered staff. Though she thought Vinny was a waste of space most of the time, he was always good at maths and card counting. Mandy made sure he went to different casinos and dealers, and she'd always be there, watching.
Vinny couldn't resist a pretty face, and he started showing off to a pretty young cocktail waitress, telling her that he counted cards and that it was the perfect crime. But she then told Terry, the casino owner, and he wasn't happy. He wanted his money back, and fast, or else Vinny would be taken away from her. She promised Terry she would pay back every penny to ensure Vinny's safety. Vinny was later barred from the casino for life, forcing Mandy to get someone else to help her, who went by the names "The Little Mermaid" and "Red". Mandy and "Red" went back a long way. Mandy repositioned the cameras, and Vinny was watching every move the dealer made, relaying it all to "Red", telling her to either stick or twist. Mandy only prayed she'd stick to the plan, because she loves to improvise, being "a bit of a lose canon if truth be told".
After setting the casino's fire alarm off and taking some of the money, Mandy makes a run for it.
But, in true Dingle fashion, things didn't go according to plan. "Red" was supposed to lose a hand occasionally to make it look legit, but she got greedy and kept winning. However, her luck ran out. Vinny was shouting but she couldn't hear, and then Terry wanted a word, and also wanted his money. Mandy just prayed "Red" would cut and won. She tried to make a break for it, but "Red" had other ideas, gambling all of their winnings. Mandy was left with no other choice but to get "Red" out of there, and fast. Mandy then set the fire alarm off and, while everyone else exited the casino, robbed some of the money, not wanting to go home empty handed as a life on the run from Terry doesn't come cheap. Mandy and "Red" then ran for their lives. They eventually found Vinny in a van, and they got in it and drove off. They got away, but were never free of him. Terry eventually demanded all his money back, and didn't stop.
2019: Return
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Mandy and Vinny.
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 condoling 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 refuses 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. Later on, Mandy assists Lydia Hart in attempting to uncover her true identity, and eventually realises that her mother, Agatha Finn, is still alive.
Quotes
"I'll do one, I'll do one!" - first line.
"No-one cheats on a Dingle and gets away with it!" - to Butch Dingle and Marlon Dingle.
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.
"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.
"See ya Charity! Good luck with ya wedding!" - final line before her 2001 departure, to Charity Dingle.
"Missed me Sammy?" - first line after her 2019 return, to Sam Dingle.
"You're a cheating skank. You're not going to talk your way out of this one." - to Jessie Dingle.
"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.