EMMERDALE fans are in shock after Mandy Dingle revealed she took Vinny on as a baby after his dad abandoned him.
The barmaid – who is played by actress Lisa Riley in the ITV soap – isn’t Vinny’s biological mother and also isn’t his legal guardian.
Instead she just kept him hidden from social services after his dad Paul walked out on them both just a couple of years into their relationship.
Viewers knew Vinny wasn’t Mandy’s biological son but the Dingles didn’t know until tonight when she confessed everything.
She told Sam and Lydia: “He was nine months old when I first clocked eyes on him.
“Little mite, screaming the street down in this soiled onesie and I looked into his pram and I just knew someone had to look after him. I was on a first date with his dad Paul. I moved in with him by the end of the week, you know me I don’t do anything by halves.
“We were happy and then the wheels started to fall off. Paul got himself into this mess and it just got bigger and bigger.
“One day he walked away and never came back, two days after Vinny started school. I was no-one, just this random woman that his dad had shacked up with. I had to make a choice – do I become the mum he never had or do I put him into care. The easiest call I’ve ever had to make.”
Vinny defended Mandy too, by saying: “I spent so many years lying, waiting for a knock on the door from the social because people won’t accept she’s my real mum.
“You have no idea of the things she’s done for me. The times she starved so I could eat. We had nothing.”
Fans were shocked by the development but glad it wasn’t a much darker secret.
One wrote: “Bringing back Mandy and introducing Vinny is one of the best things #Emmerdale has done in the past year! Hope we hear more of their story or get a flashback ep in the future!”
A second said: “OMG @Reallisariley i bloody love you! I didn’t think i could love Mandy Dingle more but tonight i do! Also i am SO glad the truth wasn’t anything bloody dodgy.”
Another added: “WOW, seeing Mandy opening up about Vinny and her choices, I have nothing but respect for her!”
