EXCLUSIVE: Chas Dingle is in for a change of pace as Emmerdale approaches 2026
20:05, 19 Dec 2025Updated 20:10, 19 Dec 2025
Lucy Pargeter will be starring as Chas Dingle in Corriedale(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter revealed what’s to come for Chas Dingle in 2026 ahead of the Corriedale crossover.
Lucy Pargeter joined the soap in 2002 to take on the role of Chastity “Chas” Dingle, and also appeared in the 2010 spin-off film, The Dingles: For Richer, For Poorer.
The long-standing Dales resident is celebrating 13 years on the ITV soap and has had some hard-hitting storylines in the last year alone. This includes her involvement in the Valentine’s limo crash that saw three villagers confirmed dead – Amy Wyatt, Suzy Merton and Leyla Harding.
After suffering from a back injury, she found herself collapsing at the Woolpack and hitting her head on the bar. It was later revealed that it was John Sugden who had overdosed her on pills, causing the dizzy spell.
Even with John’s reign of terror behind her, Chas has been confirmed as one of the characters in Corriedale. It’s a special hour-long episode for ITV that sees the worlds of Emmerdale and Coronation Street collide for one night only.
On Tuesday (December 16) many of the confirmed casts attended the red carpet at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford to discuss the upcoming and highly-anticipated crossover.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News at the Corriedale premiere, she said: “Well the thing is, we’ve done lives, we’ve done stunts, we’ve done everything and I think the way that TV’s going, we’re all fighting for viewers constantly, because the viewers are getting less, and less, and less.
“People are watching it on Catch Up, so I think we needed to do some things to keep the audience there. Because they’re so close geographically, it does make sense for them at some point to come in contact with each other. I think it’s a really nice way to introduce the audience, although we share the same viewers, I think it’s nice to see them intermingling.”
ITV have remained tight-lipped about the crossover(Image: ITV)
While some cast members have worked across both soaps including Chris Bisson and Oliver Farnworth, Lucy admitted that many of them have only met at awards shows or other events with ITV.
She added: “We all had a chance to catch up and we haven’t seen each other for years and meet a few cast members that I’ve never seen before.”
With the new year approaching, Lucy teased what viewers can expect for Chas in 2026: “She’s in amongst it, but there is no initial danger. I think I’ve got a quiet year next year!”
As for whether her and Liam Cavanagh will finally get married, she added: “I don’t know. I don’t think it will happen soon, but I think it will eventually happen. I think we’re gonna need a bit of joy.”
In an extra treat for the viewers, the producers of both programmes are inviting the audience to choose which two characters, one from each soap, they would like to see meet and interact in a scene.
While the poll won’t open until next year, the four different options viewers will get to choose from were filmed last month and will feature either Emmerdale’s Emma Atkins (Charity Dingle) and Corrie’s Alison King (Carla Connor), Emmerdale’s James Hooton (Sam Dingle) and Corrie’s Andy, Emmerdale’s Nicola Wheeler (Nicola King) and Corrie’s David Neilson (Roy Cropper), or Emmerdale’s Mike Parr (Ross Barton) and Kate Ford, aka Corrie’s Tracy Barlow.