Scott Mitchell has said he thinks his late wife Dame Barbara Windsor would be “really happy” about his new relationship.
Earlier his year, Scott went public with Barbara’s former EastEnders co-star Tanya Franks, after meeting through the fundraising team “Babs’ Army”.
During an appearance on Thursday’s Lorraine, Scott discussed finding love again after Barbara’s death at the age of 83 in December 2020.
“Barbara will always hold an incredibly special part of my heart and my life,” he told host Lorraine Kelly.
“It’s half my life I was with her. She was an incredible lady, but me being miserable now or alone isn’t going to bring her back and she wouldn’t want that.
“I know the one person who would be really happy for me is Barbara Windsor.”
Revealing her wish for him after her death, Scott added: “She was a generous lady, a generous spirit. She always used to say, ‘I’ll go first, be upset, be heartbroken but once you’re through that, please live the best life you can’.”
He said of his new relationship: “I’m very, very lucky. It started as as incredible friendship and it’s developed into more. I’m very happy.”
Scott and Dame Barbara were married for 20 years, until her death in 2020.
Six years earlier, the EastEnders legend had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which she spoke publicly about for the first time in 2018, and spent her final years campaigning to raise awareness of the condition.
Barbara and Tanya previously shared the screen in the BBC soap, after the latter made her debut as Rainie Cross in Albert Square in 2007, appearing on-and-off until last year.
During a This Morning interview earlier this month, Scott described Tanya as being the “polar opposite” of the late Carry On star.
He said: “It’s a very funny thing, I could not have picked two ladies who are more opposite – they are the polar opposites of each other when it comes to talking about their personal life.
“Barbara, if she had have sneezed at 11 o’clock, she’d give you a three hour interview on how it made her feel and the tingling in her nose. Whereas Tanya, she’s an incredible lady but she just believes her personal relationships are not something she wants to discuss and I respect that just as much.”
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV1.