Latest news with #BarbaraWindsor
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EastEnders star Jamie Foreman says soap isn't 'anywhere near the highlight of my career' as he accuses show bosses of breaking promises
Jamie Foreman has revealed that EastEnders is 'nowhere near the highlight' of his acting career as he accused show bosses of failing to keep promises made before he joined the soap. The actor, 67, played Derek Branning from November 2011 until the character's death in the dramatic Christmas Day episode of 2012. Despite his role in one of Walford's most infamous families, Jamie said he doesn't consider the part a standout moment in his career - even though it gave him the opportunity to work alongside icons like Dame Barbara Windsor. Speaking on the Lewis Nicholls show, Jamie admitted: 'I'm going to be a little bit controversial here. 'I don't see EastEnders as anywhere near the highlight of my career. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'It was a lovely job and I respect it. But for me… they'd asked me so many times before.' He went on to explain that producers promised him flexibility and favourable working conditions before he signed on. He continued: 'They said, "it's with the best family, it's full on, you can do as long as you want". I said, "I only want to do it for a year." 'I went and met with them and they made me all manner of promises that they never kept, like "you'll never work a Saturday". I did every Saturday. I was the first in, last out every day.' The BBC declined to comment, and Jamie's representative has also been approached. During his short tenure on the show, Derek Branning made a significant impact. He had an affair with Kat Slater, tormented Pat Butcher on her deathbed, and revealed the truth about Dennis Rickman to his son, Denny Watts. This isn't the first time Jamie has voiced criticism of his time on EastEnders. In a 2013 appearance on Daybreak, he said: 'I hated the scenes in the Queen Vic, I'm terribly sorry to everybody! 'I'm sure a lot of the cast will say the same thing - they're so long and laborious. 'You've got to stand there and wait for somebody over there to stop talking, so you're listening to that conversation, then it cuts to somebody else. You never shoot a scene quickly in there.' In 2020, Jamie revealed he suffered a heart attack, just like his character did in the BBC soap. Speaking to The Sun about his health scare, Jamie said: 'I had a massive heart attack a couple of years back and nearly pegged it. 'That put everything in perspective. All the years and energy I'd spent stressing about work and now I think "I've been there, done that".' Jamie has had an illustrious film and TV career, starring in movies such as Layer Cake, Oliver Twist and Nil By Mouth. Despite his successful career, he has been candid about the challenges he's faced in finding work. He told the Business & Money supplement in The Sunday Times: 'I've been sort of struggling on the work front. 'I wasn't terribly well a few years ago and it made me really reappraise things, so I'm in a transitional period. I'm only working if something nice comes in. 'My wife and I set up a little fashion business, Jules Boutique, in Surrey a while ago, which is her shop really and it's still burgeoning.' Jamie was previously married to EastEnders actress Carol Harrison, who played Louise Raymond. They share a son, Alfie.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell defends romance with her EastEnders co-star after admitting he 'still wakes up in panic' worrying about the late star
Dame Barbara Windsor 's widower Scott Mitchell has defended his relationship with her former EastEnders co-star Tanya Franks. Barbara, known for her portrayal of Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, died from Alzheimer's Disease in 2020 at the age of 83. Scott, 62, became Barbara's carer in 2014 when she fell ill with the disease and the pair were married for 20 years before her death in 2020. Scott, who recently shared that he 'still wakes up in panic' worrying about the late star, like he did when she was still alive, believes Barbara would have given her blessing for his new romance with Tanya, 56. The couple went public with their relationship last year, having grown close while campaigning together for dementia awareness following Barbara's diagnosis. Tanya, best known for playing Rainie Cross in the BBC soap, worked with Barbara on EastEnders before her health began to decline. Speaking to Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast, Scott admitted: 'I still wake in terror. I still have moments - this morning I was quite emotional - where I just miss her. 'That doesn't change. I think it will be with me forever. 'I would like to believe she would be happy that someone was there by my side and that I wasn't on my own. She always used to say to me, 'I never want you to be on your own.' Despite having some public support, Scott has faced some backlash for his relationship with Tanya. Hitting back at criticism, he said: '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.' Scott also told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: 'I'm incredibly happy. Me being unhappy and alone is not going to bring Barbara back. Life is very much for the living and we all get one shot at living. Of course, there's always someone on the internet, who's going to say, "Oh, it didn't take him long."' Scott and Tanya initially bonded through their work with the Alzheimer's Society and were close friends for years before their relationship turned romantic. Reflecting on his ongoing grief, Scott said: 'I don't think anyone ever gets over a loss of someone they love so deeply. Scott, who recently shared that he 'still wakes up in panic' worrying about the late star, believes Barbara would have given her blessing for his new romance with Tanya, 56 He said: 'I would like to believe she would be happy that someone was there by my side and that I wasn't on my own. She always used to say to me, 'I never want you to be on your own' 'I think we find ways of carrying them with us, and that's what I try to do every day.' Scott refused to compare Barbara and Tanya but admitted they are 'very different' from one another. He said: 'Tanya is a wonderful lady. She's very private. She's not how Barbara was in that respect. Barbara was an open book. Barbara told you every detail about her life. Tanya has no interest in celebrity. She is a very good actress. At the moment, she's appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in Much Ado About Nothing. 'I don't compare the two ladies. They're very different and I have love for both of them. I wouldn't be with anyone who wasn't truly lovely.' In the wake of the loss of his wife, Scott detailed how his 'incredible friendship' with Tanya, 57, became a romance. Speaking to This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, he said: 'We forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it... 'The exact opposite of what dementia is. I'm very fortunate that I have a partner that doesn't mind me speaking about my late wife.' Scott and Tanya forged a close friendship over the years as they worked together to raise awareness about Alzheimer's with 'Bab's Army'. Alzheimer's is close to Tanya's heart with her running in the London Marathon as part of Bab's Army for her step-father Derek. Tanya, who knew EastEnders star Barbara and played drug addict prostitute Rainie Cross on the soap, admitted she can do 'nothing but support' Scott discussing Barbara's battle and his work in caring for the TV icon. Tanya said: 'I can do nothing but support him in talking about it. You often feel alone in it when you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's... 'The communication allowed the support system to grow. Barbara is as much about the legacy of Alzheimer's as it is me going through it with my step father. It is hundreds of thousands that we've raised from doing the three marathons.'
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Barbara Windsor's widower defends romance with her EastEnders co-star as he admits he still ‘wakes in terror'
DAME Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell has spoken out to defend his relationship with her former EastEnders co-star Tanya Franks. Scott, 60, who was married to the Carry On icon for 20 years until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2020, said he 'still wakes in terror' without her. But he insists Barbara would have given her blessing for his new romance with Tanya, 56. The couple went public with their relationship last year, having grown close while campaigning together for dementia awareness following Barbara's diagnosis. Tanya, best known for playing Rainie Cross in the BBC soap, worked with Barbara on EastEnders before her health began to decline. Speaking to Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast, Scott admitted: 'I still wake in terror. I still have moments - this morning I was quite emotional - where I just miss her. "That doesn't change. I think it will be with me forever.' He added: 'I would like to believe she would be happy that someone was there by my side and that I wasn't on my own. She always used to say to me, 'I never want you to be on your own.'' Scott also revealed that despite public support, there had been some backlash to his relationship with Tanya - and he felt compelled to respond to those who criticised him for moving on. He said: '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." Scott and Tanya initially bonded through their work with the Alzheimer's Society and were close friends for years before their relationship turned romantic. Barbara, who played the iconic Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders, was diagnosed in 2014 but kept the news private until 2018. Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell praises new partner Tanya Frank for supporting him as she describes how romance grew naturally She died in December 2020 aged 83, with Scott by her side. He has since become a prominent campaigner for dementia awareness and was awarded an MBE in 2022 for his efforts. Reflecting on his ongoing grief, Scott said: '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.' Scott and Tanya previously appeared together on This Morning to raise awareness of dementia and campaign for vital research. The recruitment consultant told host Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: 'We forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it... 'The exact opposite of what dementia is. I'm very fortunate that I have a partner that doesn't mind me speaking about my late wife.' Tanya joined Scott in fundraising after her step father Derek went through a similar thing. She said: 'I can do nothing but support him in talking about it. You often feel alone in it when you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's... 'The communication allowed the support system to grow. Barbara is as much about the legacy of Alzheimer's as it is me going through it with my step father. It is hundreds of thousands that we've raised from doing the three marathons.' Scott went on to reveal he would take part in another marathon – but there were certain conditions. He said: 'If for next year's marathon someone would like to give a million pounds, a big company or sponsor, I will do another marathon and shave my hair off as well, and that is the big one, shaving my hair off.' 4 4 4
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell admits he 'still wakes up in panic' worrying about the late star
Dame Barbara Windsor 's widower Scott Mitchell has shared he 'still wakes up in panic' worrying about the late star, like he did when she was still alive. Barbara, known for her portrayal of Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, died from Alzheimer's Disease in 2020 at the age of 83. Scott, 62, who became Barbara's carer in 2014 when she fell ill with the disease, said he would always be 'constantly alert' during the night in case she had a fall. And years after her death, Scott has admitted he still struggles to sleep throughout the night. He told The Mirror: 'I've never recovered from my sleep from when I was caring for Barbara. I'll fall asleep at 11 but I can be waking up through the night. 'I was so aware of when she used to get up in the night because she used to have falls in the night. So I never really used to sleep. I used to constantly be alert.' He added: 'There are times when I wake up and I panic because I think, is she OK? Like I used to. I have to talk to myself and say, "it's OK. She's at peace". It's a lot less than it used to be now.' Scott and his new partner Tanya Franks previously spoke about their romance on Lorraine. In the wake of the loss of his wife, Scott detailed how his 'incredible friendship' with Tanya, 57, became a romance. Speaking to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, he said: 'We forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it... 'The exact opposite of what dementia is. I'm very fortunate that I have a partner that doesn't mind me speaking about my late wife.' Scott and Tanya forged a close friendship over the years as they worked together to raise awareness about Alzheimer's with 'Bab's Army'. Alzheimer's is close to Tanya's heart with her running in the London Marathon as part of Bab's Army for her step-father Derek. Tanya, who knew EastEnders star Barbara and played drug addict prostitute Rainie Cross on the soap, admitted she can do 'nothing but support' Scott discussing Barbara's battle and his work in caring for the TV icon. Tanya played crack cocaine addict as Rainie Cross on the BBC soap where her storyline followed her and Barbara's on-screen son Phil Mitchell Tanya said: 'I can do nothing but support him in talking about it. You often feel alone in it when you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's... 'The communication allowed the support system to grow. Barbara is as much about the legacy of Alzheimer's as it is me going through it with my step father. It is hundreds of thousands that we've raised from doing the three marathons.' Scott echoed: 'If for next year's marathon someone would like to give a million pounds, a big company or sponsor, I will do another marathon and shave my hair off as well, and that is the big one, shaving my hair off.' 'I don't want people to go through the latter stages of what I went through with Barbara.' He said: 'She's a wonderful lady who knew Barbara. It can't be easy to be with someone who was the other half of Barbara Windsor, especially the fact that I still put myself out there and talk about her. 'So, it says to me the type of person that Tanya is, that she can deal with that. She's very sure of herself as a person. Just because you're not with someone for whatever reason, it doesn't mean to say that you just switch off some valve of love.'
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
What happened when Gen Z watched classic British films: 20-somethings give their verdict on movies with sex scenes, trans characters and body shaming that would never make it on to screens today
While the Carry On film franchise provided box office hits for more than 30 years, the sexist plots and sexualised depictions of women would certainly never make it on to screens today. But according to Caroline Frost, the author of Carry On Regardless: Getting to the Bottom of Britain's Favourite Comedy Films, the films - made between 1958 and 1992 - were not sexist at all because it was the female stars who were forced to 'save the day'. And while the stars of the franchise, including the late Dame Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims, reportedly didn't feel their characters were outdated, Carry On belongs to the same canon as Benny Hill, which was the subject of a recent documentary questioning if it should stay cancelled. In the show, Gen Z viewers were introduced to his slapstick and risqué sketches for the first time to gague their reactions - prompting the question: What would the same viewers think of movies from the past five decades that they're too young to remember? The 1970s sex comedy Come Play With Me offered similarly sexualised depictions of women while Monty Python's sex-focused gags left newer viewers squirming. In the 1992 crime thriller The Crying Game in which IRA volunteer Fergus falls in love with Dil, the girlfriend of a British soldier, was critically acclaimed and nominated for mutiple awards, winning an Oscar for Best Screenplay. However, the 'twist' that revealed Dil to be transgender - and Fergus' horrified reaction - would be highly unlikely to meet today's standards of sensitive handling of trans issues. To find out what the modern audience thinks of films that have raised at least a few eyebrows, Gen Z viewers Emily Cooper, 23, Poppy Gibson, 25, Kirsten Murray, 25, and Martha Mccraken, 23, sat down to see if they really deserve the criticism levelled at them. Carry On Cruising - 1962 The sixth comedy in the 31-strong Carry On film series, Carry on Cruising was a money maker at the box office when it was released in 1962. With a stellar cast full of classic British comedians including Sid James, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Williams, the film follows a truculent cruise ship captain dealing with an incompetent crew and a series of bizarre guests. In a clip watched by the Gen Z viewers, the ship's doctor falls in love with his unconscious patient and finds himself in a sticky situation when she inadvertently embraces him. As they roll around on the floor in confusion, Sid James, as the cruise ship's captain, enters and demands to know what's going on. And while the viewers thought the scene, which saw Dilys Laye lying on a bed in an exposing bikini, was hyper-sexualised, the innuendos and jokes generally landed positively. The four agreed that the humour wasn't too dissimilar to comedies now and that they didn't find anything shocking in the scene. Emily said: 'I actually did find that quite funny. I think it seemed like it wasn't from as far back as it was - a similar thing could probably still be done.' And Kirsten agreed, saying that thirty years later similar gags were still being used including in cult favourite sitcoms such as Friends. She said: 'I've seen similar things like that in Friends, the whole having to explain themselves in a situation thing. That's pretty classic humour.' Come Play With Me - 1977 The British softcore pornography film from the 1970s was regarded as one of the most successful from the genre and ran at the Moulin Cinema in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981. It was the most successful sex comedy of the '70s and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running screening in Britain. The film follows two elderly fraudsters, printing fake banknotes while on the run from their gangster boss. Holed up in a manor in the Highlands, their secretive operation is brought down when the owner of the manor's dance troupe arrive and open up the mainly disused house as a brothel. With full frontal nude scenes, topless women in nurses costumes and sex jokes galore, the trailer for the film left the Gen Z viewers lost for words. The group wondered whether the film was satirical and said it would never be made today or would need an 18 plus rating at the very least. Emily said: 'Oh! Oh my God. Full frontal nudity. It's just a bit of a jump scare', while Kirsten said, 'Is this a satire? It's just soft porn. Oh, my. Oh, my God, this something. This would be an 18 now, there is no way this would be made now.' Poppy added: 'I thought it was just really bizarre. It could take me a while to recover from that. That was not what I expected and I've never seen so much whipped cream in places I wouldn't want.' The Gen Z Goggleboxers also said they weren't sure they could watch it with their parents and were shocked by the plot with Emily adding: 'I think it was a programme that maybe I don't want to watch with my parents.' Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - 1983 The musical comedy starring John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle followed on from the success of the troupe's previous films Holy Grail and Life of Brian and was a collection of sketches. The film grossed almost $43 million against a $9 million budget and in the decades since has become a cult classic. In one sketch entitled Growth in Learning, a class of school boys take part in a sex education lesson which sees them observe their teacher, John Cleese, have sex with his wife while quizzing them on the correct procedures and the scientific terms for their genitalia. Emily said she enjoyed the sketch and thought it was funny because it was asking interesting questions around sex education and forcing viewers to confront the absurdity of it. But she did admit that she'd grown up watching re-runs of Monty Python and therefore knew the show's style. She said: 'I've watched Monty Python, so I guess I have a bit more of the context, but it's just emphasizing how awkward the sex education lessons can be. 'And obviously that didn't happen at school, but the reaction of the boys is exactly what would happen in school.' Poppy revealed she didn't find particularly funny but she didn't find the humour outrageous either and said she could see how it would be a product of its time, commenting: 'I don't think I found it crazily funny. I didn't find it shocking.' Kirsten added that she thought it was the uncomfortable nature of the jokes that was funny and compared it to The Inbetweeners, a Channel 4 teenage comedy about a group of four school friends, but noted that the joke went on longer than she had expected. 'Making you uncomfortable, that was part of what made it funny,' she said. 'But yeah, I do I do think that if it was going to happen nowadays, the wife would walk in, they'd start taking off their clothes off and then the scene would cut. 'With all the school boys it is like The Inbetweeners.' Emily agreed that the scene went on for far too long, saying: 'The joke's done, right. Cut it off there. But it just kept going.' Martha added that it might have seemed 'normal' in the 80s, but today it would have been 'such a short scene'. The Crying Game - 1992 The 1992 crime thriller stared Stephen Rea as IRA volunteer Fergus, who kidnapped a British soldier. The Irishman and his victim bond and the soldier asks his captor to find his girlfriend Dil in London if he doesn't make it out alive to which he dutifully does. The pair fall in love but Fergus rejects Dil after discovering they are transgender and he reveals his role in the killing of Dil's partner - a crime he serves time in prison for. In the scene watched by the four Gen Z viewers, Dil and Fergus are kissing and undressing before Dil reveals their body in a full-frontal nude shot and Fergus shoves Dil before running to the toilet to be sick. The Goggleboxers were shocked at the reaction with Poppy saying she though Fergus's vomiting was too much. She said: 'I feel like that was such an extreme reaction or a misunderstanding. I feel like it's playing on the idea that, like, being gay or being attracted to man or anything is really horrible and shocking. And there's this idea that he's being tricked in some way.' Emily agreed and added that she thought such an early representation of a transgender person had been handled poorly and wouldn't be treated like that now. She said: 'I can imagine people at the time probably thinking, "oh my gosh". But we've got trans actors in loads of films, it's far more represented. So I can imagine maybe in the context of the time, that being really quite shocking but for me I wasn't really.' Martha said that she felt the film was trying to send a message that 'people need to be careful' of situations like this, adding: 'Really, it's not a "thing". There would be more sensitivity towards the trans person than just towards the other person.' Fat Slags - 2004 The gross out comedy was based on a hugely popular comic strip of the same name and starred Fiona Allen and Sophie Thompson as two friends who enjoy drinking and eating kebabs in a little northern town. After leaving their humdrum lives for the lights of London, the duo are picked up by an American businessman who falls in love with them and gives them starring roles in his London fashion show leading to fame and fortune until jealousy drives the friends apart and back to their ordinary lives. In the scene shown to the Gen Z viewers, the two friends are presented to the French designer in charge of the catwalk who is horrified by their plus-size bodies and elaborately scolds the businessman for ruining his artistic vision. The four viewers were surprised by the representations and noted they all adhered to stereotypes: the stupid American, the camp gay fashion designer and the country bumpkin Northerner. Poppy said: 'I think this is very stereotypical. There's this silly American man, the two larger women have these northern accents, and they are country bumpkins. And there's the flamboyant camp French fashion designer.' Emily also noted that there was less sexualisation and that all the characters were fully clothed and it was interesting to see how humour had changed since the film from the 1960s. She said: 'I don't think it would be made in the same way today. It's interesting that the jokes weren't sexualized, everybody was fully clothed but it was still outrageous. ' They didn't enjoy the film but weren't shocked either other than by the title which they thought was offensive. The group said they thought it was interesting to see how the films had changed over the decades and said the focus had shifted away from hypersexualised depictions of women but there was still a focus on their bodies. Emily said: 'The first clip we saw of the 60s it was sexualized but it was funny and the premise was of a scene that you weren't expecting and you have to get yourself out of that. 'And then in the 70s and 80s, then the humour was based on the nudity and I can see why in the context of the time, it was funny' She added that while the films raised a few eyebrows she could see links to the types of films made today, explaining: 'I can see echoes of that today in skits and movies but it is really interesting to see how it has changed over time. Poppy said she would happily watch Carry On Cruising because it was 'lighthearted and silly', although she admitted it probably wouldn't be made now. Kirsten and Poppy both agreed that the 1970s film made them uncomfortable and were shocked at the level of nudity and they felt The Crying Game could have handled the controversial topic of transgender romance more sensitively. Kirsten added: 'It's interesting the way the film industry broaches more sensitive topics and, and how their approach to that has changed.' Emily revealed it had ignited a spark and she wanted to explore older films revealing: 'I think it's made me want to watch more films. I'm going to ask my parents for recommendations because I feel like there are some gems out there.'
