Scott and Windsor were together for 27 years until her death in 2020 (Picture: Jonathan Hordle/ Shutterstock)
Scott Mitchell, widower to EastEnders star Barbara Windsor, opened up about his relationship with another soap star.
Scott’s relationship with actress Tanya Franks was confirmed last year, with the pair stepping out together during the summer, four years after they ran a marathon to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK in Dame Barbara’s name after she died from the disease in 2020.
Tanya, 55, is best known for playing Rainie Cross in the same BBC One soap that Windsor starred on.
Now Scott, 60, has spoken more about how their relationship developed over the years.
Speaking to Loose Women presenter Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast, he said: ‘She’s [Tanya]a wonderful lady who knew Barbara. It can’t be easy to be with someone who was the other half of Barbara Windsor, especially the fact that I still put myself out there and talk about her.’
He added: ‘So, it says to me the type of person that Tanya is, that she can deal with that. She’s very sure of herself as a person. Just because you’re not with someone for whatever reason, it doesn’t mean to say that you just switch off some valve of love.’
Scott Mitchell s now dating former EastEnders actress Tanya Franks (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Scott previously explained that after spending 27 years with Windsor, she would ‘always hold a special place in my heart’, but that him ‘being miserable or alone wouldn’t bring her back and she wouldn’t want that’.
‘I know the one person who would be really happy for me is Barbara Windsor.’
In the interview Scott also spoke about how the grieving process for his late wife began all the way back in 2014 when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
‘My grieving for her started back in 2014 and slowly you have to watch the deterioration of the person you love and they are still there,’ he explained.
‘I grieved for her again when I had to let her go into a care home, and then when she passed and then the following years after that.’
Scott was married to the late Peggy Mitchell icon from 2000 until her death in 2020.
In 2022, Tanya left her role as Rainie on EastEnders after she reunited with husband Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) and decided to start a new life elsewhere with their son, Roland.
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Scott’s new relationship was confirmed last year.