Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell opens up about new relationship with EastEnders star
Scott has found love again
Last updated 11th Sep 2023
Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell has opened up about his new relationship with EastEnders star Tanya Franks. Scott has found love again three years after his wife Barbara sadly died aged 83 in 2020, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2014.
Scott first met Tanya, who played Rainie Cross on the popular soap, when they ran the London Marathon in 2019 to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research UK in honour of Barbara. The pair made their relationship official whilst on holiday in Greece in July 2023.
Appearing on This Morning on Monday (11th September), Scott told hosts Holly Willoughby and Dermot O'Leary about his relationship. He said: "We met the first year that we did the marathon.
"It's a very funny thing. I could not have picked two ladies who are more opposite, they are the polar opposites when it comes to talking about their personal life.
Scott described his partner Tanya as 'an incredible lady', but added that he wishes to 'respect' her choice to not publicly discuss her relationships.
He added: "Barbara, if she had sneezed at 11 o'clock, she'd give you a three hour interview, whereas Tanya is an incredible lady, but she believes that her personal relationships are not something that she wishes to discuss.
"I respect that. We did meet through running and we still do that together."
Scott and Barbara married in April 2000. Speaking on Lee Salisbury's Soap from the Box podcast in November 2022, he said: "I'll look at a picture of her and just sense something, I know she's there.
"She always said to me, even before the dementia, 'Listen love, I'll go first because that's how it'll be between you and me. When I go I want you to be broken-hearted, cry your eyes out, the whole works.
"But when you get over all that promise me you'll have the best life ever because that's what I did'."
Take a look at Dame Barbara Windsor's life in pictures:
Barbara Windsor on Stage
Lionel Bart, with Barbara Windsor, in a dress rehearsal of "Twang" at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London. Twang!! was a spoof of the character and legend outlaw Robin Hood. It was a disastrous box-office failure and cost the composer his personal fortune. Windsor played Delphina. Other members of the cast included Bernard Bresslaw and Ronnie Corbett.
Sparrows Can't Sing
Based on a 1960 play, Sparrows Can't Sing, was directed by Joan Littlewood and was from a story by Stephen Lewis (otherwise known as Blakey from 'On the Buses') and starred James Booth and Barbara Windsor. It was the film that brought Windsor to the attention of a wider audience subsequently seeing her ongoing appearances in the Carry On franchise, first with Carry on Spying in 1964.
Carry On Films
Sid James and Barbara Windsor in a scene from the British comedy, 'Carry On Henry' being filmed at Pinewood Studios, in Iver, England in 1971. One of nine Carry On films Barbara Windsor in which featured.
Barbara Windsor and Ronald Knight
Barbara Windsor holding a single red rose, kissing her husband Ronald Knight outside Brixton Prison in London when he was released on £200,000 bail, he faced murder and arson charges. Her marriage to Knight in 1964 - an associate of the notorious East End criminals Ronnie and Reggie Kray - ended in 1985.
Honours
Barbara Windsor was appointed MBE in 2010 and later, DBE in 2016.
Barbara Windsor as Peggy Butcher
Arguably the role for which she is most well-known, Barbara Windsor went on to play the role of Peggy Mitchell, later (after marrying Frank) Peggy Butcher in the BBC soap opera Eastenders. She played the role from 1994 to 2016.
Barbara Windsor as Peggy Butcher and the Butcher family in EastEnders
As landlady of the 'Queen Vic' in Albert Square, Peggy's responsibilities were often demanding, frequently resulting in raised voices and fairly violent outburst between family and customers, underscored with the classic line, "Get aaat a ma pub!"
Eastenders
Windsor's starring role in Eastenders made her the perfect guide for Her Majesty the Queen, when the head of state made a set visit to the TV studios where the soap is recorded in Ellstree.
Raising Dementia Awareness
Following her diagnosis with Alzheimers in 2014, Barbara Windsor devoted much of her time raising awareness of dementia and improving provision for dementia sufferer care. Here she's pictured with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Rose Garden at Downing Street, where she discussed issues surrounding the condition after delivering a letter signed by 100,000 carers demanding increased funding for caregiving.
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