Tina Marie Dingle is the youngest child and only daughter of Zak and Nellie Dingle, as well as the mother of Vinny Dingle, sister of Nathan, Butch, Ben, and Sam Dingle, and the half-sister of Cain and Belle Dingle.
Biography[]
1994-1995: Plotting revenge on Luke McAllister[]
Tina was first seen in December 1994, attending a party in the village. She got talking to a young man, and things seemed to be going well between the pair, until she was informed that he was Luke McAllister, the man responsible for the death of her older brother, Ben. Disgusted, Tina walked away, spitting in Luke's face as she went.
Over the next few weeks, Tina made it her mission to make life as miserable as possible for the McAllister family. Tina's constant goading contributed to the entire family, with the exception of Luke, moving away from the village, however, Tina wasn't done with her revenge plan yet. Luke and Tina began spending lots of time together, and eventually entered into a relationship. Tina's parents, Nellie and Zak, were horrified when they learned of the news, with Zak even attempting to beat Luke up. However, Tina was able to diffuse the situation when she revealed that she was pregnant.
With a baby on the way, it was decided that the pair should marry, and the date was set for 20th July 1995. Zak and Nellie reluctantly accepted Tina and Luke's relationship, with Nellie even becoming excited at the prospect of her daughter marrying a future Doctor. Unfortunately, Luke's hopes of becoming a Doctor began slipping from his grasp, when Tina claimed to be feeling unwell, causing Luke to miss his exam. Around the same time, Tina convinced Luke that, in order to fund their wedding, he should sell his motorbike and a valuable family heirloom, sales he almost instantly regretted.
The day of the wedding soon arrived and Luke and Tina headed to the alter. However, Tina interrupted the service and revealed that the whole relationship had been an act of revenge for Ben's death. Not only that, but there was not, and never had been, a baby. Luke was left devastated by Tina's actions, and a few days later, decided to leave the village and return to his parents in London. Before he left, Luke asked to see Tina one last time, and took her for a drive round the village in David Glover's van. Refusing to believe that Tina had never loved him, Luke increased his speed as he tried to get her to confess. A terrified Tina tried to convince him to stop, and eventually threw herself from the moving van, moments before Luke lost control and crashed. Luke was killed in the accident and Tina had to incur the wrath of Luke's friends, who blamed her for his death. Tina herself struggled with her grief over the accident, as she told Nellie that, whilst she had wanted to take revenge on Luke for Ben's death, she had never wanted him dead.
Over the months that followed, Tina began attempting to rebuild her life. After a brief run in with the police over a robbery that Albert Dingle had been involved in, Tina took a job as Frank Tate's housekeeper at Home Farm. Tina believed that Frank had only offered her the job to annoy his ex wife, Kim, however, she was surprised when he seemed impressed with her work and appeared to enjoy having her around, even taking her with him on holiday to the West Indies.
1996: Relationship with Steve Marchant and Frank Tate and leaving the village[]
Later in 1996, Tina began a relationship with Steve Marchant, leaving Frank jealous, and he began playing mind games and making unreasonable demands on her time. Tina eventually stood up to Frank and the pair made up when they attended a residential conference together. It was whilst away on this trip that Frank proposed to Tina, however she turned him down telling him that she didn't see him as anything more than her boss. Frank struggled to accept Tina's rejection and began pressuring her to change her mind, leading to her taking time off work. Frank's harassment eventually got too much for Tina and she confided in Mandy that she'd made some contacts whilst at the conference, and was going to enquire about other work. A few days later, Tina was offered a job in London, and told Frank of her intention to leave. Frank refused to accept Tina's resignation and was soon pressuring her again to accept his proposal. Tina insisted that she wasn't interested and left the village on Christmas Eve 1996.
1996-2024: Life away from the village[]
What happened to Tina after she departed is unknown and she had very little, if any, contact with her relatives back in the village. During Christmas 1998, Zak commented that Tina had not even sent the family a Christmas card and she also failed to return after the birth of her half-sister Belle or for the funeral of her brother Butch. In 2003, Zak commented to his brother Shadrach that he didn't even know if Tina still went by her old name, indicating that he had not heard from his eldest daughter in some time.
At some point, Tina had met Paul Ashdale and fallen pregnant. In 2001, Tina gave birth to her son, Vinny Ashdale. The only member of her family who she had contact with at the time was Mandy Dingle and Tina left Vinny in her care after ending her relationship with Paul and going to Ireland. Ten years later, Tina came back for Vinny but Mandy told her to leave in order to protect Vinny from his mother and Tina agreed as long as Mandy paid her.
2024: Return to Emmerdale[]
Although Tina had fallen out of contact with the rest of the family, Tina still communicated with Mandy who informed her when Zak passed away in 2024 and invited her to the funeral, leading to everyone's surprise when she actually showed up in the village for the first time in nearly thirty years. She didn't receive a warm welcome given her extended absence, nor was she glad to see any of her family again and wasn't even interested in meeting her younger half-sister, Belle for the first time. Tina also met her birth son, now called Vinny Dingle, for the first time in over twenty years but barely acknowledged his presence. She mocked her half-brother Cain Dingle and claimed that he was not deserving of being Zak's son.
Things got worse when Mandy discovered Tina had been making enquiries about selling Wishing Well Cottage from under the family, as Tina didn't think that Zak had made a will. Tina argued with the family about her intention to sell the house and was surprised when Sam's wife, Lydia revealed that Zak had entrusted her with his will. During a scuffle with Charity Dingle, everyone spotted that Tina was wearing an ankle tag meaning she had been serving time in prison. The police then arrived to take Tina away, but not before she promised to return and cause more trouble.
A couple of days later, Tina showed up at the salon, which Mandy owned and blackmailed her, saying that Mandy had to give her Zak's will or she would tell Vinny that she was his mother. They argued and Tina berated Mandy for stealing Paul and claimed that she had been suffering from postpartum depression when she abandoned Vinny.
In November 2024, Tina parked her caravan outside Wishing Well while she waited for Mandy to get her the will, despite Sam telling her to leave. Mandy did steal the will but she refused to give it to Tina and instead drove her caravan to the middle of a field. After Mandy left, Tina drove back to Wishing Well, where she revealed Mandy's involvement in the plan and the fact that Vinny was her son to spite Mandy. Later, Tina tried to get Vinny onside after learning he had money from his late wife, but Vinny said he wanted nothing to do with either Tina or Mandy.
A few days after, Vinny offered Tina a deal; she could take £50,000 to leave the village or stay and have a relationship with him. Tina didn't hesitate to accept the money, but was shocked to find the envelope empty as Vinny had wanted to test whether she really cared about him. When Cain learned about all the trouble that Tina had been causing, he set her caravan on fire and told her to leave the family. Tina then moved to different caravan somewhere else and when Vinny followed her, he heard children playing inside.
Residences[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Wishing Well Cottage | 1978 to 28th April 1995 |
| Hawkins Cottage | 28th April 1995 to 20th July 1995 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 20th July to 24th October 1995 |
| Tent on Home Farm lawn (temporarily) | 24th October to 26th October 1995 |
| Emmerdale Village Institute (temporarily) | 26th October to 7th November 1995 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 7th Novmeber 1995 to 24th December 1996 |
| Caravan outside Wishing Well Cottage | 7th November 2024 to 12th November 2024 |