Scott Michell 'didn't feel guilty' about finding love after Dame Barbara Windsor's death
Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell "didn't feel guilty" about embarking on a new relationship after her death because she had always urged him to live the "best life" after her passing.
Dame Barbara Windsor's widower "didn't feel guilty" about embarking on a new relationship after her death.
The 'EastEnders' star passed away in 2020 aged 83, after living with Alzheimer's since 2014, and two years ago, Scott Mitchell found love with her co-star Tanya Franks, 57, and he hit out at critics who suggested he moved on too quickly after losing Barbara.
He 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.’
“Well, maybe they forget the fact that Barbara’s illness possibly started initially 10 years before she passed so you’re grieving while they’re alive. You lose them while they’re alive. I didn’t feel guilty because I knew I had Barbara’s blessing because of what she’d always said to me."
Scott, 62, recalled how Barbara - who he married in 2000 - had spent years before her health declined urging her spouse to move on and enjoy the "best life ever" after her death.
He said: “It would be impossible for me not to miss her. However, I also look at the fact that Barbara led an incredible life. And some! And she most likely lived 10 lives over compared to the rest of us.
“Before she had dementia, she would say to me, ‘When I die, be broken hearted, please. I want you to cry your eyes out. But then you promise me that you have the best life ever. Because that’s what I did’.
“The fact that we had 27 years together anyway was the most incredible thing. It shouldn’t have worked but we did spend this incredible life together.
“Now when I look back, I feel blessed for the time we spent together. Barbara changed my life in so many ways.”
Scott refuses 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.”
