Latest news with #TanyaFranks
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.'
