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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDame Barbara Windsor\u2019s widower Scott Mitchell has addressed backlash to his romance with the late EastEnders<\/em> <\/em>icon\u2019s co-star.<\/p>\nWindsor, who played Peggy Mitchell in the BBC series, died in 2020 at the age of 83, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease seven years earlier.<\/p>\n
The soap legend, who was also known for her roles in the Carry On <\/em>films, married Mitchell, 62, in 2000.<\/p>\nMitchell confirmed his relationship with EastEnders <\/em>star Tanya Franks in 2023, after becoming friends with the actor through his fundraising work for Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK.<\/p>\nFranks made guest appearances on the soap since 2007, playing Rainie Cross, the sister of Jo Joyner\u2019s Tanya Branning, and also starred in Sharon Horgan\u2019s sitcom Pulling<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Mitchell and Windsor were married for 20 years until her death in 2020 (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSpeaking on Kate Thornton\u2019s White Wine Question Time <\/em>podcast, Mitchell said that although some people might think that he has \u201cmoved on too fast\u201d after Windsor\u2019s death, his late wife \u201cnever\u201d wanted him to be alone.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to believe she would be happy that someone was there by my side and that I wasn’t on my own,\u201d he told Thornton. \u201cShe always used to say to me, \u2018I never want you to be on your own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a bit of, \u2018Oh he\u2019s moved on too fast,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cAnd you just think, \u2018How dare you?\u2019 People don\u2019t know the pain. They don\u2019t know what the grief has been.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s what I try to do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Mitchell met Franks, third from left, while raising money for Alzheimer\u2019s Research (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nMitchell and Franks previously made a joint appearance on This Morning <\/em>in order to raise awareness of the disease, which also affected Franks\u2019 late stepfather. <\/p>\n\u201cWe forged an incredible friendship over the four years and something wonderful blossomed out of it,\u201d Mitchell told the show. \u201cThe exact opposite of what dementia is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very fortunate that I have a partner that doesn\u2019t mind me speaking about my late wife.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI can do nothing but support him in talking about it,\u201d Franks added. \u201cYou often feel alone in it when you are caring for someone with Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Dame Barbara Windsor\u2019s widower Scott Mitchell has addressed backlash to his romance with the late EastEnders icon\u2019s co-star. Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell in the BBC series, died in 2020 at the age of 83, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s disease seven years earlier. The soap legend, who was also known for her roles in the Carry On films, married Mitchell, 62, in 2000. Mitchell confirmed his relationship with EastEnders star Tanya Franks in 2023, after becoming friends with the actor through his fundraising work for Alzheimer\u2019s Research UK. Franks made guest appearances on the soap since 2007, playing Rainie Cross, the sister of Jo Joyner\u2019s Tanya Branning, and also starred in Sharon Horgan\u2019s sitcom Pulling. open image in gallery Mitchell and Windsor were married for 20 years until her death in 2020 (Getty Images) Speaking on Kate Thornton\u2019s White Wine Question Time podcast, Mitchell said that although some people might think that he has \u201cmoved on too fast\u201d after Windsor\u2019s death, his late wife \u201cnever\u201d wanted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}