Chastity "Chas" Dingle (also Spencer) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lucy Pargeter. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 October 2002. Chas returned on 21 September 2003. Chas was absent for six months in 2005 when Pargeter took maternity leave. She left temporarily on 5 June 2005, and returned full-time from 13 December 2005. In 2013, Pargeter announced that she would be taking a short break from the show in order to appear in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Pargeter was briefly recast for one episode on 20 December 2016 to provide an alternative physical appearance to the character through the eyes of Ashley Thomas (John Middleton). Chas departed temporarily once again on 31 March 2017 when Pargeter took a second maternity leave. Pargeter confirmed her return to filming on 31 August 2017. Chas returned on 25 October 2017. In January 2024, it was announced that Chas would be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in an upcoming storyline.
Chas's main storylines have focused on her turbulent relationship with Carl King (Tom Lister), becoming a prime suspect in the murder of Tom King (Ken Farrington), discovering she has a half-sister Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams), rebuilding a relationship with her son Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) who she abandoned as a child, her relationship with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), disputing with her niece Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) after having an affair with Debbie's fiancé Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), her grief over the loss of her father Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine), sister Gennie and best friend Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward), developing post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) being shot, discovering Aaron's sexual abuse at the hands of his father Gordon Livesy (Gary Mavers), discovering that she is pregnant with Paddy's child but that the baby Grace will not survive long after birth due to bilateral renal agenesis, and falling pregnant again with their second daughter, Eve.
Development
Casting Charleigh Brierley briefly portrayed Chas in a special flashback episode that showed the childhood of Chas and her brother Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), which was originally broadcast on 17 November 2017.
Prison life and affair Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy confirmed that Chas Dingle would begin a steamy affair with Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), the boyfriend of her niece Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb). The pair's attraction ignites after Cameron is employed at the Woolpack and later succumb as their love strengthens. However, back in the summer, Chas's half sister Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams) discovered that half-sister Chas was having an affair with Cameron, but she ultimately decided to conceal her discovery upon the illicit couple agreeing to end the fling. The latest twist begins as Chas plays with fire by suggesting that Cameron should meet her at Gennie's place as nobody will be in. However, as the pair passionately kiss in the house, the front door suddenly opens and Gennie catches them red-handed! Sian Reese-Williams hinted that Gennie may be later involved with protecting her secret, commenting: "Nothing ever goes unpunished in soapland, does it? I'm sure that this won't, either. Gennie's role in keeping the secret will be brought up again, I'm sure. It's lurking in the background!" As Emmerdale's 40th anniversary episodes aired, Debbie, along with parents Cain Dingle and Charity Sharma, finally uncovered Chas's affair with Cameron, marking the climax of one of the biggest stories in Emmerdale's history.
Temporary departure (2017) On 31 October 2016, Pargeter announced she was pregnant, and as such the character of Chas would be temporarily written out in 2017. Chas made her final appearance in the episode broadcast 31 March 2017, alongside actress Isobel Steele, who played Olivia Flaherty, as Steele was also leaving temporarily to take her GCSEs. Pargeter gave birth to twin daughters in April 2017, and she returned to filming in August 2017. Chas made her on-screen return to the programme on 25 October 2017.
Pregnancy and daughter's death In late 2017, producers reunited Chas and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). A few months later, Chas discovers she is pregnant. Laura Morgan of Digital Spy observed, "It's obvious why the Emmerdale writers love these two together – they have a strong bond, a shared history, and are first and foremost best mates who are not afraid to take the mickey out of each other. We've watched them co-parent Aaron over the years, but to see them have a biological child would be a whole new world." Chas initially decides to have an abortion, but she changes her mind while she is at the clinic and tells Paddy that she wants to be a mother again.
In May 2018, Chas attends a scan alone, as she has mixed up the dates, and the sonographer notices something wrong with the baby. Chas is then informed that her baby has bilateral renal agenesis, a fatal condition in which the kidneys do not develop properly.
Grace's birth takes place during an "experimental episode", in which Paddy imagines he and Chas have taken their daughter on a trip. Scenes show Grace when she is one, four, and 12 years old. Pargeter explained, "It's the kind of things they would have done with her if she'd have still been around – it's in their heads in the delivery room after she's just been born. They're thinking about all of the things that they won't get to do with her. They kind of go there with her in their minds." Pargeter believed the episode needed some "lightness" because of how sad the rest of the storyline is. Grace dies in Chas's arms at the end of the episode.
Storylines Chas first appeared when she arrives in Emmerdale dressed as a nun for the stag night of her cousin Marlon (Mark Charnock). She is hired by her father, Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine), and ends the evening locked in the back of a van with Ashley Thomas (John Middleton). Several months later, she becomes homeless and moves in with the Dingles and gets a job as barmaid at The Woolpack. Chas has a son, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller), with her ex-husband Gordon (Gerard Fletcher), whom she allowed custody. Aaron hates his mother, feeling that she had abandoned him. Aaron rejects Chas's attempts to make amends for this and after he deliberately tells her about Carl and Delilah's fling, she ceases contact in order for Gordon, Aaron and his new wife, Sandra, to become a proper family.
Soon enough, Chas makes friends with Carl King (Tom Lister) shortly after he and his family move into Holdgate Farm. They share a bond due to the fact that they are both parental failures and begin dating. The attraction strengthens into love but Carl's family disapprove and send him away after Paul Marsden (Matthew Booth) dies but he later returns and they get together. Chas's relationship with Carl was never stable, and the couple go through numerous break-ups and reconciliations. Despite Chloe Atkinson's (Amy Nuttall) poison pen letter scheme, Tom and Rosemary's blackmail, Carl's guilt over murdering his father and marriage to Chas's former friend, Lexi Nicholls (Sally Oliver), the relationship survives but finally deteriorates upon Chas discovering Carl was sleeping with Eve Jenson (Suzanne Shaw). Heartbroken, she follows her second cousin Charity's (Emma Atkins) advice to persuade him to marry her and falsely claims to be pregnant. However, she steals the money meant for the wedding and jilts him at the altar, telling him that he should be grateful that she lied about expecting his child.
Chas also develops a relationship with her half-sister, Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams). Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) tells her that Shadrach put Gennie up for adoption after her mother died in childbirth, believing he couldn't bring her home to his wife, Faith. After coming to terms with this, she helps her father write to Gennie and feels neglected when Shadrach seems obsessed with his new daughter. Chas and Gennie become friends and Chas advises Gennie on how to care for her mother. Chas also manages to rebuild her relationship with her son, Aaron (now Danny Miller). She discovers his whereabouts, with help from her cousin Marlon's wife, Donna (Verity Rushworth), who has arrested Aaron for drug offences. Initially he is not pleased to see her but after the Dingles rescue him from the McFarlanes, he moves in with them. Aaron is pleased when Chas stands up for him when Lisa (Jane Cox) throws him out for encouraging Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) to steal, so they move in with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Initially, Chas enrolls him at the local school but he refuses to go and starts work at the garage with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb).
Eventually, Chas's friendship with Paddy develops into a serious relationship. Chas is unsure of the relationship's future but Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) encourages her. Unfortunately Carl, newly separated from Lexi, decides he still loves Chas. Chas later succumbs to Carl's advances, but Chas decides that she wants to improve her relationship with Paddy and keeps her night with Carl a secret. Infuriated with this, Carl tells Paddy of their one-night stand, leading Paddy to kick her and Aaron out. No one is pleased with Chas but only Katie and Debbie support her. Aaron insists she choose between him or Carl. Chas chooses Carl, moves back in with the Dingles but then soon moves back in with Paddy. Angry with Carl, Aaron disconnects the brakes on Carl's car, nearly killing Jimmy King (Nick Miles), his wife Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) and their newborn daughter, Angelica King, when they borrow the car. Horrified, Aaron runs Jimmy off the road to warn him and Chas loses her temper with Aaron, telling him that she wants nothing more to do with him. This incident has more of an effect on Aaron than Chas realises and makes him seriously rethink his behaviour. Though she continues to show concern for him, he resists allowing her back into his life. Paddy tells Chas that Aaron is gay, surprising her. She is devastated when Aaron attempts suicide but immediately supports him. After this, they slowly begin to reconcile. She is thrilled for him when he meets Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock) and they build a relationship, albeit a bit rocky.
Chas convinces Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen), landlady of The Woolpack, that they would benefit if Chas bought into The Woolpack. After weeks of pestering, which include Chas helping out behind bar for free, Diane relents and in desperate need of the money, sells half The Woolpack to Chas. Chas becomes colleagues with Debbie's boyfriend Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), needing the money, and an attraction grows. They finally give in to temptation and have a steamy sex session in the cellar. Chas tells Cameron that it was a mistake but they later begin an affair. After a fight between Cain and Cameron led to an impregnated Debbie being accidentally injured, endangering her and the baby she's expecting, they realise they cannot be together and part ways. Chas is told by Bob in the cafe that Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) fancies her. She invites him to dinner and they become a couple. Chas proposes to Dan after several dates, but he declines. However, he changes his mind and as he proposes to her, Chas accepts. Carl takes Chas's phone and finds photos of her with Cameron, discovering her relationship with Cameron. He threatens to tell Debbie about the affair, unless he is given his money back.