{"id":310916,"date":"2025-12-11T23:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310916\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T23:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:15:12","slug":"dame-barbara-windsors-widower-breaks-silence-on-backlash-to-new-eastenders-partner-really-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310916\/","title":{"rendered":"Dame Barbara Windsor’s widower breaks silence on backlash to new EastEnders partner: ‘Really hurt’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Mitchell has revealed he is still \u201chaunted\u201d by the memory of Dame Barbara Windsor\u2019s devastating decline, as he marks five years since the death of the much-loved EastEnders icon.<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell, 62, spoke movingly about the trauma of watching his wife lose herself to Alzheimer\u2019s disease, reflecting on moments that still cause him immense pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I never had to experience the terror in Barbara\u2019s eyes, when she didn\u2019t know where she was, who I was, who she was,\u201d he told the Daily Mirror.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat haunts me. No human being should have to leave this world in the way those suffering with dementia do. Nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/p>\n

Barbara Windsor with Scott Mitchell in 2016 <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Ms Windsor, famed for playing Peggy Mitchell for more than two decades, died in 2020 aged 83, six years after her diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell admitted witnessing the illness up close has left him terrified of developing dementia himself.<\/p>\n

Despite the grief, he said he continues to feel Ms Windsor’s presence through what he believes are signs she sends him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got lost in the hotel at a literary festival in Gibraltar and found myself in the Windsor Room,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\"Dame<\/p>\n

Dame Barbara Windsor passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2020<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the other weekend I stayed on a housebarge\u2026 the boat was called Little Babs. One of the other boats in the marina was called Peggy!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell regularly visits her resting place at Golders Green Crematorium, where a plaque chosen by Barbara reads: \u201cShe was a good bird.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a nice little chat,\u201d he said. \u201cYour loved ones are always with you\u2026 I believe our loved ones are around us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell has since found happiness again with actress Tanya Franks, who played Rainie Cross in EastEnders. <\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Mitchell and Tanya Franks made their relationship official in July 2023<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

The pair became close while training for the London Marathon to raise money for Alzheimer\u2019s causes in Ms Windsor’s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it,\u201d he said on This Morning.<\/p>\n

Although Mr Franks and Ms Windsor never overlapped on the soap, the two met during marathon preparations.<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell said Ms Windsor liked her immediately: \u201cShe\u2019d say, \u2018She asks sensible questions about acting.\u2019 Tanya knew her stuff and that meant a lot to Barbara.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Mr Mitchell said moving on has made him a target for criticism. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always that person that says, \u2018That was quick!\u2019 It\u2019s easy to sit on the sidelines and cast judgement\u2026 These people forget their words can really hurt,\u201d he told the Mirror.<\/p>\n

He previously said on White Wine Question Time: \u201cPeople don\u2019t know the pain. They don\u2019t know what the grief has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Franks, whose stepfather died last year after an 11-year battle with Alzheimer\u2019s, has offered him unwavering support.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe allows me to talk about Barbara any time I need to\u2026 I\u2019m never second-guessing if the moment\u2019s right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dame<\/p>\n

Dame Barbara Windsor played Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders from 1994 to 2010, and then sporadically from 2013 to 2016, making her time on the show over two decades<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell continues to champion dementia awareness through his role as People\u2019s Champion of the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme, established under Boris Johnson and reaffirmed by the current government.<\/p>\n

The initiative was recently referenced in the 10-year health plan, an honour Mr Mitchell says would mean the world to Ms Windsor.<\/p>\n

He has also expanded his charitable focus beyond Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK, pledging to support any dementia organisation where Ms Windsor’s name \u201cwould be an appropriate fit”.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can\u2019t save the world, nor can Barbara\u2019s name, but we can make a difference.<\/p>\n

“And people desperately need to know help is on the way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, Mr Mitchell said his hope is simple: \u201cThat Barbara\u2019s memory continues to make a huge impact. And that everyone remembers her with a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Mitchell has revealed he is still \u201chaunted\u201d by the memory of Dame Barbara Windsor\u2019s devastating decline, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-310916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-celebrity","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}