Scott Mitchell, the widow of British screen legend Dame Barbara Windsor, has revealed the signs in real life he has noticed from his late wife.
The actor, who captured the nation’s heart as Old Vic’s Peggy Mitchell as well as her roles in the Carry On films, died in 2020 aged 83 after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia.
In the last year of her life, she and her husband of 20 years advocated for better dementia care, making it all the way to Downing Street with their campaign.
Five years on from her death, Mitchell, who is now in a relationship with Windsor’s former EastEnders co-star Tanya Franks, has spoken about how he still feels Windsor’s presence in day-to-day life.
‘I was asked to do a talk a couple of months ago at a literary festival in Gibraltar and I got lost in the hotel and found myself in the Windsor Room.
‘And the other weekend, I stayed on a housebarge not long ago by the river -the boat was called Little Babs. One of the other boats in the marina was called Peggy!,’ he recalled to The Mirror.
As a regular visitor to her resting place and plaque at Golders Green Crematorium, he explained he will have a ‘nice little chat’ with her.
‘I don’t believe people die and that’s the end of it. I believe our loved ones are around us,’ he added.
Mitchell has been candid about his grieving journey over recent years, adding that he still feels ‘haunted by the terror in Windsor’s eyes’ when she stopped recognising herself and those around her.
Hoping that the advocacy work Barbara started at the end of her life continues, he added: ‘I know I can’t save the world, nor can Barbara’s name – but we can make a difference. And people desperately need to know help is on the way.’
He remains a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Research UK, and has even run a marathon with her EastEnders co-stars in support of the cause.
Over the summer, the widower spoke about starting his new relationship, and defended his decision to start dating Franks.
He initially told Best Magazine: ‘Before she died, Barbara told me to cry, be broken-hearted, then have the best time. Knowing Barbara, she would have remarried a nice 25-year-old by now!’
Reiterating this stance on the podcast White Wine Question Time, he shared: ‘ ‘There was a bit of, “Oh he’s moved on too fast”. And you just think, “how dare you?” People don’t know the pain. They don’t know what the grief has been.
‘I 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’s what I try to do every day.’
In his latest reflections to The Mirror, he shared that Franks ‘allows me to talk about Barbara any time I need to. In the same way she can with me.’
