Emmerdale favourite Chastity ‘Chas’ Dingle is the much-loved manager of The Woolpack and has been a resident of the village for more than 20 years.
She went through a rocky patch when fans turned on her over her affair with bad boy Al Chapman, but her recent battle with breast cancer, and her on-off romance with Dr Liam seems to have won the viewers’ hearts once more.
But she’s certainly had quite the time during her years in the Dales!
Who is Chas Dingle in Emmerdale?
A real chip off the old Dingle family block, she’s the daughter of the late Shadrach Dingle and Faith Dingle. She’s the half-sister of Cain Dingle, Caleb Miligan and the late Genesis (Gennie) Walker. She’s also a cousin to Charity, Sam, Marlon and Belle Dingle.
Chas has been married three times, and divorced her most recent husband Paddy Kirk after her infidelity with Al Chapman.
She’s fiercely protective of her family, but hasn’t always been the model parent. Chas has a stormy and complicated past with her eldest child, son Aaron, who she gave birth to at just 14.
And after losing her first daughter Grace in 2018, Chas went on to have Eve.
Chas recently faced one of the toughest battles of her life after being diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, the same disease that claimed the life of her mum, Faith.
Chas’s arrival in the Dales
Viewers first sighting of Chas was when she turned up to her cousin Marlon Dingle’s stag do dressed as a nun. She was the stripper – awkward!
After ending up homeless, she moved in with the Dingles and got a job pulling pints at the Woolie.
During this time she made several attempts to reconcile with estranged son Aaron, who she had left in the care of his birth dad Gordon Livesey.
Aaron wasn’t interested so Chas walked away again. However, she was unaware that Gordon was sexually abusing their lad. The guilt of that discovery, years later, is something that’s haunted Chas ever since.
Doomed romance with Carl King
Soon after her arrival in the Dales, Chas began an intense on/off romance with Carl King.
Chas forgave a lot of Carl’s indiscretions, but the final straw came when she discovered he was having an affair with Eve Jenson.
Following Charity’s advice to take cheating Carl for every penny, Chas proposed and made out she was pregnant.
The date was set for Christmas 2010, but on their wedding day, Chas exacted her revenge. She jilted Carl at the altar and revealed there was no baby.
In 2012 Carl made a last-ditch attempt to win back Chas. By this point he was public enemy No.1 in the village and had discovered she was having an affair with Cameron Murray, who was Debbie’s boyfriend. Chas was also engaged to Dan Spencer at the time. Carl began blackmailing her and became obsessed with winning her back.
After her wedding to Dan, Chas tried to flee to escape Carl’s reign of terror. Carl caught her and attempted to rape her, but she fought back – hitting him over the head with a brick, which led her to believe she’d killed him. Of course, viewers knew it was actually Cameron Murray who had delivered the fatal blow, but he allowed Chas to believe she was responsible for Carl’s death.
Chas stood trial for murder, but was found not guilty.
The other relationships of Chas Dingle in Emmerdale
Chas also betrayed her niece Debbie Dingle by sleeping with her partner, Cameron Murray.
During a break in their secret relationship, Chas married dependable Dan Spencer.
The couple said ‘I do’ in a joint wedding ceremony alongside Katie Sugden and Declan Macey, which formed part of the soap’s live 40th anniversary episode.
But marriage was over before it began. And Chas resumed her relationship with Cameron. Unbeknownst to her, Cameron was a murderer – and responsible for the death of her half-sister, Gennie.
Things between Chas and Cameron eventually turned ugly, and as revenge he held her hostage in the Woolpack before perishing in the pub’s flooded cellar.
In late 2015 Chas reconnected with her ex, Aaron’s dad, Gordon. They planned a future together until Aaron dropped the bombshell his dad has sexually abused him as a child. Chas vowed to make Gordon pay and eventually he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He then took his own life in his cell.
You’d think Chas would have learnt her lesson by the time she settled down with loveable Paddy Kirk. But no.
A disastrous affair with conman Al Chapman put paid to Chas’s marriage and resulted in her losing her beloved Woolpack. It also meant she missed the death of her mother, Faith, when she was away at a spa hotel with Al.
Chas and Dr Liam have proper chemistry but Liam’s started a relationship with Ella, even though he clearly has feelings for Chas.
Can they make a go of it?
Aside from romantic interests, the other most significant male in Chas’s life is her son, Aaron. The pair have a tempestuous relationship, but reunited after Aaron learnt about his mum’s cancer diagnosis.
Her reign at The Woolpack
One of the greatest losses of Chas’s life was having to stand down as landlady of The Woolpack. Arguably the village pub is the real love of her life.
Chas started working at the village boozer shortly after her arrival in 2002 and was an instant hit with the punters. After a number of years as barmaid, she became co-owner alongside landlady Diane Sugden.
Then in 2016, Diane retired and handed the reins over to Chas. She decided to bring in her cousin Charity to help run the show, but their partnership soon went sour.
Chas’s ultimate downfall came when she allowed dodgy businessman Al Chapman to buy into The Woolpack. He was secretly plotting to turn it into flats though and he ended up torching the pub in an insurance scam.
Following the fire, Chas was forced to sell up to Charity and her son, Ryan Stocks, but kept her foot in by working as The Woolpack’s manager. She also still lives in the accommodation.
Losing Grace
In early 2018, Chas was surprised but delighted to discover she and Paddy were expecting.
However, tragedy struck when their unborn daughter was diagnosed with the fatal condition bilateral renal agenesis. It meant her kidneys would not develop properly and she would not survive long after birth.
Chas made the gut-wrenching decision to continue with the pregnancy to term, and gave birth to their daughter Grace, who passed away shortly afterwards.
Happiness followed the following year when Chas gave birth to another little girl, who she and Paddy named Eve.
Cancer battle
Chas’s world was turned upside down in early 2024 when she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
Further tests revealed Chas is a carrier of the faulty BRCA2 gene, which increased her risk of developing certain cancers.
Chas made the brave decision to undergo a double mastectomy.
She also encouraged the rest of the Dingle family to undergo genetic testing to see if they had inherited the same BRAC2 faulty gene. Brothers Cain and Caleb were clear, but son Aaron has also got the gene. He took the news badly, but Chas has supported him as he came to terms with what it could mean.
Who plays Chas Dingle in Emmerdale?
Chas Dingle in Emmerdale is played by actress Lucy Pargeter.
Before shooting to fame on the Yorkshire-based soap, Lucy had roles in dramas such as Soldier Soldier, Dalziel and Pascoe and the revival of soap Crossroads in 2002.
She was also a member of girl group Paperdolls, who toured with boyband Boyzone in the 1990s.
Lucy has three daughters, Lola, who was born in 2005, and twins Missy and Betsy, who were born in April 2017, with her former fiancé Rudi Coleano.
The pair announced their split in 2019, and Lucy has since gone on to find happiness with a new mystery man.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.30pm and 2.05pm.
