🌟 “She Still Sends Me Signs”: Scott Mitchell Opens Up About Love, Loss, and the Quiet Messages He Believes Barbara Windsor Still Leaves Behind
Five years after the death of Dame Barbara Windsor, her widower Scott Mitchell says the memories still arrive in waves — some beautiful, some brutal, and some so eerie he believes they’re “messages” from the woman he loved for nearly three decades.
The EastEnders icon, who lit up British entertainment for over 60 years, died in December 2020 following a long and devastating battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Her passing marked the end of an era — and the beginning of a long, quiet grief for the man who stood beside her through all of it.
Today, Scott, now 62, is finally ready to talk about what those years took from him… and what they continue to give back.
🧠 “Her Eyes Showed Fear I Will Never Forget”
Looking back on Barbara’s final years, Scott says the hardest memories aren’t dramatic — they’re devastatingly small.
“The terror in her eyes… I still see it,” he admits.
“When she didn’t know where she was. When she didn’t know who I was. No one should have to leave the world that way. No one.”
He reveals that dementia permanently changed his own biggest fear:
“Once you’ve watched someone you love disappear into dementia, your greatest fear becomes that it will happen to you.”
Despite the trauma, Scott insists his mission is not to dwell on the sorrow, but to protect the vibrance that defined Barbara long before illness struck.
“She made people smile without trying,” he says.
“She walked into a room and sprinkled something like magic.”
🌈 The “Signs” He Still Sees Everywhere
Though Scott doesn’t claim to speak to Barbara, he believes she finds subtle ways of reminding him she’s still nearby.
“One day, I got lost in a hotel and ended up in a room called The Windsor Room,” he recalls.
“Another time, the houseboat I stayed on was named Little Babs.
A boat next to it? Peggy.”
He laughs softly.
“When it happens, I just smile. She’s still looking after me.”
Scott regularly visits Barbara’s resting place at Golders Green Crematorium, where her plaque reads: She was a good bird.
“It was the title she wanted for her obituary,” he says. “Very Barbara.”
❤️ A Legacy That Changed the Conversation on Dementia
Barbara kept her diagnosis private for four years, finally revealing it in 2018. Scott says the decision “changed everything” — for other families, for charities, and even for the government.
“She shifted the entire narrative about dementia,” he explains.
“Her honesty helped people talk about what they were going through.”
Barbara and Scott famously marched to Downing Street with a petition demanding better dementia care — a moment that deeply moved the nation.
Today, Scott remains involved in the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals Programme, honoured that Barbara’s name is written into long-term national health plans.
“I can’t fix everything,” he says. “But I can try to make the world a little easier for families going through what we lived.”
🤍 The Friends Who Stayed — and the Ones Who Disappeared
Scott says Barbara’s closest friends never left his side.
“David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Ross Kemp… They’ve all kept in touch,” he reveals.
“You learn who your real friends are when life gets dark.”
He also speaks fondly of Paul O’Grady, whose death last year was another painful blow.
🌱 A New Love, and the Judgment That Came With It
Scott is now in a relationship with actress Tanya Franks — someone Barbara met during London Marathon training years ago.
“Tanya asked Barbara thoughtful questions about acting,” he recalls. “Barbara liked her instantly.”
Tanya, who lost her stepfather to Alzheimer’s, encourages Scott to speak openly about Barbara — something he calls a “gift.”
Online critics, however, were not as kind.
“There’s always someone saying, ‘You moved on too quickly,’” he says.
“They don’t understand. Their words hurt more than they know.”
🎄 Christmas Without Barbara
Even now, the holiday season is the hardest.
“You feel the empty chairs at Christmas more sharply than anything else,” Scott admits.
“We’ll remember her. We always do.”
And what does he hope for the years ahead?
“That Barbara keeps changing lives. And that people always remember her with a smile, the way she lived.”