ROSS Kemp has revealed how he thinks of Barbara Windsor every day - and he knows what she would want him to do next.
The 59-year-old actor worked with the legendary star for many years on EastEnders when he played Grant Mitchell and Barbara played his on-screen mother, Peggy Mitchell.
They had such a close bond that Ross even agreed to return to the BBC soap in 2016 as part of Barbara's heartbreaking exit storyline.
In December last year, it was three years since Barbara passed away aged 83, following a battle with Alzheimer's Disease, and Ross revealed he still thinks of her every day.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun's TV Mag, he said: "She's someone that I loved, and I spoke to, I spent a lot of time with.
"I've got a picture of her in my house, so I bounce past that every day - it's a picture of her when she was about 23, wearing not very much, funnily enough, but I don't think of her in that way! I was just very fond of her.
"And she was one of those old big stars, you know, probably the like we will never see again. And she was a friend and I was very close to her."
Recalling how they became close on the EastEnders set, Ross said: "The set at the Vic is a bar, obviously, that goes around in a sort of semi horseshoe, and then there's a stairwell that goes up through the middle of it, and that stairs goes nowhere.
"It goes up into some lights. But I'd let her sit on the stairs and I'd sit on a crate and we just natter in between takes."
Asked what advise she would give him about his life now, he joked: "I wouldn't listen to her advice! Barbara? Listen to her advice?!"
He added: "She was so eyes and teeth and laughs and giggles and all that, but there was very serious side to her and she'd seen some quite dark things in her life.
"What would she be thinking now? She'd be thinking: 'Talk more about me, darling.!' That's what she'd be saying. 'You haven't mentioned the moment we did this!' 'Oh, you missed an opportunity there - you should have told them about that.'
"I was always getting that kind of advice. She was very good at the relationship she had with the press, particularly a time in the press for a different animal to they are now.
"She was very good at how she presented herself, and she always had time for everybody, and I think that's something that I've tried to kind of follow in her footsteps - or her stilettos.
"I've also become the ambassador for London Poppy Day. so that's a mantle that she passed on to me and the RBL [Royal British Legion] wanted me to carry on.
"And so I think about her, you know, when we get around to that time of year, as I think of a lot of young men that I was with in Afghanistan who sadly didn't make it back or if they did, they came back damaged in some way."
The star then recalled his most memorable scene with Barbara on the show, which prompted "bin liners of hate mail afterwards".
It was a scene where Grant - who was never very good at controlling his temper - slapped his mum, Peggy.
Ross - who also opened up about whether he'd return to the soap - said: "So [the script said] 'Grant hits Peggy' or Ross in fact hits Barbara Windsor, megastar, right because that's how a lot of people are going to see it.
"Not 'Grant hits Peggy' but Ross Kemp hit Barbara Windsor last night! And this was when it was getting tens of millions of viewers.
"So I said: 'Do I really have to do this?' And they said: 'Yeah, but, you know, you can work it. Work it.'
"So I remember, it was upstairs in the lounge at the Vic and I came to the door and I literally went [mimes the lightest of slaps]. Honestly, literally, it wouldn't have knocked a daffodil over.
"She went back over the sofa, like a professional stunt woman, like she'd been hit by Tyson Fury, Mike Tyson and Henry Cooper, right?
"She back-flipped, knocked china out of the way, picture frames, and they shouted: 'Cut!' and she just goes: 'All right, darlin'?'.
Ross Kemp has been on our screens for decades, here's some of his career highlights.
Emmerdale (1986-1987)
EastEnders (1990–1999, 2005–2006, 2016)
Ultimate Force (2002 - 2006)
Ross Kemp on Gangs (2004 - 2009)
Ross Kemp in Afghanistan (2008 - 2012)
Ross Kemp: Extreme World (2011 - 2017)
Bridge of Lies (2022 - present)
"Thanks for that, Barbara, because at one point the corridor to my dressing room was blocked with bin liners of hate mail.
"But she knew she was going to get some sympathy and make the character even more important than she already was, which was very difficult."
Bridge of Lies airs weekdays at 4.30pm on BBC One. TV Mag is available for free every Saturday, only in The Sun.
