{"id":187645,"date":"2025-12-12T08:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T08:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/187645\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T08:56:12","slug":"barbara-windsors-widower-says-hes-hurt-by-backlash-to-new-relationship-with-eastenders-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/187645\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbara Windsor\u2019s widower says he\u2019s \u2018hurt\u2019 by backlash to new relationship with EastEnders star"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Barbara Windsor<\/a>\u2019s widower Scott Mitchell<\/a> has said he is \u201cdeeply hurt\u201d by the backlash to his new relationship with EastEnders<\/a> actor Tanya Franks.<\/p>\n

Peggy Mitchell star Windsor died in 2020 aged 83, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a> six years earlier. Mitchell, 62, who married Windsor in 2000, became her full-time carer and met Franks, 58, who played Rainie Cross in the BBC soap, through his fundraising work<\/a> for Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK.<\/p>\n

The pair became close during that time, and their friendship turned into a romance<\/a> after Windsor\u2019s death. He confirmed the relationship in 2023 \u2013 but he soon faced negative comments, which he has reflected upon in a new interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always that person who says, \u2018That was quick,\u2019\u201d he told The Mirror<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to sit on the sidelines and cast judgement, especially with social media. These people forget that their words can really hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell said Windsor would have approved of the relationship, and that Franks allows him to talk about the star anytime he needs to.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Scott Mitchell was Barbara Windsor\u2019s full-time carer from 2014 to her death in 2020 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He added that Franks can relate to his experience of having a loved one with Alzheimer\u2019s because her stepfather died from the disease in 2024, so he is \u201cnever second-guessing if the moment\u2019s right\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I thought any of it hurt her, I wouldn\u2019t do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Franks has made guest appearances on EastEnders since 2007, playing Rainie Cross, the sister of Jo Joyner\u2019s Tanya Branning. She also starred in Sharon Horgan\u2019s sitcom Pulling.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Kate Thornton\u2019s White Wine Question Time podcast, Mitchell said in May that, although some people might think that he has \u201cmoved on too fast\u201d after Windsor\u2019s death, she \u201cnever\u201d wanted him to be alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to believe she would be happy that someone was there by my side and that I wasn’t on my own,\u201d he told Thornton. \u201cShe always used to say to me, \u2018I never want you to be on your own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Scott Mitchell went public with Tanya Franks relationship in 2023 (YouTube)<\/p>\n

He previously said he thinks \u201chow dare you\u201d when people question his relationship with Franks as \u201cpeople don\u2019t know the pain\u201d or \u201cwhat the grief has been\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think anyone ever gets over a loss of someone they love so deeply. I think we find ways of carrying them with us, and that\u2019s what I try to do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said of the relationship during a joint appearance with Franks on This Morning: \u201cWe forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it. The exact opposite of what dementia is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very fortunate that I have a partner who doesn\u2019t mind me speaking about my late wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franks said: \u201cI can do nothing but support him in talking about it. You often feel alone in it when you are caring for someone with Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-187645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}