Vincent "Vinny" Dingle (né Ashdale) is the son of Tina Dingle and Paul Ashdale although he was raised by Tina's cousin Mandy Dingle and he views her as his mother. He lost his wife Liv in October 2022. He is the fiancee of Gabby Thomas.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Vinny was born to Tina Dingle and Paul Ashdale in 2001 and Tina left Vinny with her cousin Mandy Dingle when he was nine months old. Mandy and Paul clicked right away and by the end of the week she moved in with him. Initially, they were happy but then Paul got himself into a mess which escalated until one day he walked out on them only two days after Vinny started school. Mandy continued to raise Vinny and became a mother to him. They didn't have an easy life but Mandy did everything for Vinny, starving just so he could eat.
Before arriving in Emmerdale, Mandy decided it was best to pretend Vinny was her biological son as she feared her family wouldn't accept him as part of the family unless they shared blood. Prior to their arrival, Mandy and Vinny lived in Southampton.
2019-2020: Arrival in Emmerdale[]
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Originally, Marlon Dingle thought that Vinny was Mandy and Paddy Kirk's "secret son" when they arrived in the village in January 2019. Paddy confronted Mandy about it but Mandy confirmed that wasn't the case and the pair soon left again.
Mandy and Vinny returned to Emmerdale in September 2019 and moved in with some relatives at Wishing Well Cottage. He was then revealed to have assisted Mandy in her criminal past. Vinny was always good at maths and card counting, so Mandy made sure he went to different casinos and dealers. 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 Mandy. 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. They got away with the money but Terry eventually showed up and demanded all his money back. After being freed of Terry by Sam Dingle, Vinny revealed in a conversation with Mandy that he wasn't biologically her son.
In January and February 2020, Vinny helped Mandy with her "Free Marlon" campaign, with the purpose of freeing relative Marlon Dingle who was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Graham Foster.
Vinny and Mandy open up about their past.
In March 2020, Vinny discovered Sam's son Samson had pawned Sam's wedding ring from his dead wife Alice in order to pay for a trip to France. When Sam found out Vinny covered for Samson telling him he was the one to do it in order to protect Samson. However, Samson soon enough admitted it wasn't Vinny but Vinny - who was getting sick of lying - finally admitted to Sam, his fiancee Lydia Hart, and Samson that he wasn't really a Dingle by blood, (unbeknownst to him at the time this was not true as Tina Dingle was his mother, making Sam his uncle). Despite this, after hearing their story they all welcomed him to the family, saying he was a proper Dingle.
On 17th April 2020, Vinny attends Sam and Lydia's wedding and the Dingles insisted Vinny drank from the welly, officially making him a Dingle. Chas Dingle told him that even though he wasn't a Dingle by birth, he was definitely one by nature.
2020-2021: Dating Liv and Paul's Arrival[]
During the first lockdown, Vinny got to know Liv Flaherty through playing Animal Crossing online together, and started dating shortly after.
Vinny's estranged father Paul turned up in Emmerdale in April 2020, wanting to see his son. However, Mandy found him first and she lied, telling him Vinny wasn't there. He gave her his number and address in case Vinny would get in touch and insisted he was a changed man. Paul later realised that Mandy had lied, so got a job at Holey Scrap, befriending Vinny and eventually revealing to him that he was his dad. Vinny was shocked and told Mandy that he wanted to get to know his dad, so she agreed not to get in the way. Eventually, Paul and Mandy got back together again, but Paul soon started gambling again and began physically and emotionally abusing Vinny in order to hide his gambling from Mandy.
When the abuse starting increasing, Vinny moved in with Aaron and Liv, sleeping on their sofa, then was eventually invited by Liv to share her bed. Paul's abuse continued, however, and after Liv started getting suspicious, Paul insisted he broke up with Liv, so Vinny moved back into Wishing Well cottage with his parents. Paul also encouraged Vinny to make a move on Belle Dingle, saying he should be with someone “normal”, unlike Liv who was asexual. Vinny tried but Belle rejected his advances and Vinny became uncomfortable around her.
Paul died in a barn explosion in April 2021 which was caused by the ignition of a gas tank, after Jimmy King crashed into the barn. Paul died on the day that he was supposed to marry Mandy. Vinny was devastated by Paul’s death and, despite Liv telling people about the abuse, Vinny insisted on planning Paul’s funeral. Vinny moved back in with Liv and Aaron to avoid Mandy, who felt awful for not realising what Vinny went through. He became annoyed at everyone saying that Paul was evil and banned them all from the service, as he wanted to say goodbye to his dad in peace. However, after the funeral Vinny broke down and admitted that Paul had hurt him.
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Trivia[]
- On 22nd March 2021, PC Swirling referred to Vinny as "Vincent Ashdale", meaning that "Ashdale" was his legal surname at the time. However, on 22nd February 2022, DS Rogers referred to Vinny as "Vincent Dingle", meaning that "Dingle" must be his current legal surname. It has never been mentioned on-screen that Vinny has legally changed his surname, so it is presumed that he decided to change his surname following his father's abuse and decided to take his mother's surname, which would be similar to the scenario regarding Aaron Dingle and Gordon Livesy.
Residences[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Southampton | Until 12th September 2019 |
| Butlers Farm | 12th September 2019 to 20th September 2019 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 20th September 2019 to 8th June 2020 |
| Pear Tree Cottage (lockdown) | 8th June 2020 to 24th June 2020 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 24th June 2020 to 12th November 2020 |
| Apartment One, Emmerdale Mill | 12th November 2020 to 23rd March 2021 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 23rd March 2021 to 19th April 2021 |
| Apartment One, Emmerdale Mill | 19th April 2021 to 13th May 2021 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 13th May 2021 to 28th January 2022 |
| Apartment One, Emmerdale Mill | 28th January 2022 to 12th December 2022 |
| Wishing Well Cottage | 12th December 2022 to 10th April 2025 |
| Dale View | 10th April 2025 to present |