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BABS' HUBBY FINDS LOVE
Barbara Windsor’s widower Scott Mitchell finds love again three years after her death with EastEnders star Tanya Franks
WIDOWER Scott Mitchell has spoken of finding love again three years after the death of his wife Dame Barbara Windsor — admitting: “Life feels really good right now.”
The 60-year-old went official with actress Tanya Franks on holiday this month in Greece.
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And their friends and families are thrilled to see them both so happy.
When The Sun approached Scott for a comment on the relationship and to wish them well, he said: “Thanks for your kind wishes.
“Life feels really good right now and we are enjoying some special time together”.
Just like Barbara, 55-year-old Tanya has appeared in EastEnders — playing Tanya Branning’s sister Rainie Cross in the BBC soap.
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A source said: “Scott has found love again with Tanya and is truly happy.
“His and Barbara’s friends are delighted he’s found someone to share his life with.
“It’s fairly early days but Scott is cautiously now looking forward to the future.
“They made the decision to update their wider circles while on holiday in Greece and everyone was over the moon.
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“There is so much friendship and respect between them both and they’re taking things slowly.”
As Albert Square’s Rainie, Tanya appeared in a raft of episodes between August 2007 and 2018, when she signed up full-time before leaving in August 2022.
She is also known for her roles in Pulling, Mum and Broadchurch.
Actor Scott and Tanya first bonded while training for the London Marathon, which he ran in 2019, 2021 and 2023 alongside a team of EastEnders stars.
His “Babs’ Army” has raised thousands of pounds for Alzheimer’s Research UK in the Carry On legend’s name.
He is an active ambassador for the charity alongside his work for the Government-funded Dame Barbara Dementia Mission.
Just this week Scott spoke on Good Morning Britain about the approval by US drug regulator the FDA of the first drug proven to slow the disease.
Before this year’s marathon in April, Scott hinted he was ready to start looking to a future without Barbara after 20 years of marriage.
He said: “This is definitely my last marathon and my last time running for Babs’ Army.
“I know I said that last time but this one really is my last one. It doesn’t get easier.
“For the last few years I have tried to keep Barbara’s memory alive. I’ve done my best to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s and dementia but I think after this marathon it will be time to pull back a little.
“It has been really important for me to do but it’s now time to focus on myself for a bit.
“I need to look after myself and focus on my future and my happiness.”
Barbara died peacefully in a care home in December 2020, aged 83, after living with Alzheimer’s since 2014.
She first shared her diagnosis with the public in 2018.
Devoted Scott’s fundraising efforts saw the public donate nearly £70,000 for his 2023 run alone.
This year he completed the 26.2-mile run in six hours and 15 minutes and told reporters: “As far as Babs’ Army are concerned, we’re going to have a year off, then in 2025 we’re going to have a new challenge.
“Whatever we decide to do, it will be under the banner of Babs’ Army again.”
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Barbara and Scott were first introduced by his mum Rita — who had attended dance school with Babs when they were 11 and stayed in touch.
Rita invited Barbara to join her and Scott for dinner one night, in the hope the veteran actress might impart some wisdom of the industry as he had just left drama school.
Scott told how he was taken aback by the star’s beauty. Earlier this year, he said: “Over the next few months we saw each other a lot and we fell in love.
“We were aware from the start that the 26-year age gap would cause a stir.”
Barbara — who played Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders — was married three times, first to Ronnie Knight in 1964, then to Stephen Hollings in 1986.
She married Scott in 2000.
Fans feared the worst for Barbara when in July 2020 she moved into a care home in London on the advice of her neurologist.
Five months later she died.
At the time Scott told the PA news agency: “Her passing was from Alzheimer’s/dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side.
“Barbara’s final weeks were typical of how she lived her life. Full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end.
“It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserve.
“I will always be immensely proud of Barbara’s courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could.”
A week after her passing, Scott bravely appeared at Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes Awards to present a gong in Barbara’s honour to a carer, Nassrat Bi.
In March of this year, Scott told Best magazine: “Before she died, Barbara told me to cry, be broken-hearted, then have the best time. Knowing Barbara, she would have remarried a nice 25-year-old by now!”
He added: “Now it’s time to think about me and my future.
“Barbara will always be a massive part of my life, but she would want me to move on.”
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Alz drugs offer ‘such hope’ for sufferers
SCOTT Mitchell has hailed the “hope” of a potent new wonder drug that has been proven to slow Alzheimer’s disease.
US drug regulators last week approved Lecanemab — said to cut decline rates of memory and thinking skills by 27 per cent.
Experts claim it could be available in the UK next year.
And Scott, who lost wife Barbara Windsor to the illness in 2020, yesterday said the news “filled his heart with joy”.
He told Good Morning Britain: “It’s like we’re on the cusp of something really, really major.
“By the sounds of it, it will give you extra time with your loved one. It will slow it down in the early days. I think it could make an incredible difference — we’re talking about such hope for people.
“I know when I saw this had been approved in the US, my heart really filled with joy. I just thought, ‘Even if there is a way to go, this gives us hope’.”
As an ambassador for Alzheimer’s Research UK, Scott has raised awareness and thousands of pounds to help find a cure.
It goes along with his work for the government-funded Dame Barbara Dementia Mission.
He added: “This tells us that everything we say about research — it is exactly what is needed.
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“We need the funding, and the more funding we get, the more awareness we have around this illness. We are going to make these breakthroughs.”
Samantha Benham-Hermetz, of Alzheimer’s Research, said: “This breakthrough offers compelling evidence we’re on the cusp of a first generation of treatments for this devastating disease.”
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