Tears as Babs vows to ‘carry on’
DAME Barbara Windsor vowed to “carry on” battling Alzheimer’s as she spoke about her ordeal publicly for the first time yesterday.
The star reduced TV’s Loose Women to tears when she delivered a prerecorded message to wish panellist Jane Moore a happy 56th birthday.
It came a week after her husband Scott Mitchell revealed her devastating condition in an article by Jane.
The Carry On and EastEnders legend, 80, said: “Thank you so much for being a loyal and good friend and helping Scott share my recent news.
“Thank you to everyone for the lovely messages of support that I’ve been receiving, it really means such a lot to me, it truly does.
“Have a great day and have no fear, as I still intend to carry on, and God bless everyone.”
After the message went out on the ITV show, crying Jane looked to the screen and said: “Thank you Barbara my darling... lovely.”
She went on: “We all know that Barbara is incredible. Look at us all, we’re all gone (crying).”
And one viewer said: “Oh my word, I’m welling up at Barbara Windsor’s birthday message to Jane Moore.”
Scott, 55, told of his wife’s dementia battle last week – causing a spike in donations to the Alzheimer’s Society.
Yesterday Jane explained to her Loose Women colleagues: “Scott is not a celebrity partner. He never puts himself in the limelight. It was a big thing for him to do that interview. It was absolutely the right thing.”
Looking at the camera, Jane blew a kiss, saying: “Barbara, we love you.”
Dame Barbara was diagnosed four years ago with the disease.
But Scott said he had first noticed symptoms in 2009.
He said she had been taking medication to manage the illness but her memory loss had worsened.
The actress joined BBC One soap EastEnders in 1994 to play pub landlady Peggy Mitchell and made her final exit in 2016.
Speaking earlier, Jane said: “The great thing is she knows who she is, her history, what she’s done and how much the public love her.”