Barbara Windsor’s widower Scott Mitchell has revealed his marriage to the former EastEnders star ‘wasn’t a closed book’ and she wanted him to ‘enjoy himself’.
The actor, 59, claimed the pair were not in an open relationship, but the late star, who was 27 years his senior, encouraged him to go back to London after she got all partyed up – adding that they had both ‘a similar attitude towards gender’.
Peggy Mitchell icon Barbara died in December 2020 at the age of 83 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The couple married in April 2000.
‘We both had a similar attitude towards sex… she wanted me to enjoy myself!’ Barbara Windsor’s widower Scott Mitchell has revealed his marriage to the late star “Was NOT a closed book” but insisted they were not in an open relationship (pictured in 2011)
In excerpts from his new book, By Your Side: My Life Loving Barbara Windsor, shared with The sun ahead of the October 13 release, he made the bombshell revelations.
Scott wrote: ‘On our second date Bar had spoken to me in detail about her many, many conquests. She said it was always good to brush away the cobwebs. Ours wasn’t an open relationship, but it wasn’t a closed book either.
He added that she ‘didn’t want to stop him from living his life to the fullest when she had’, but their arrangement ‘started to get a bit mixed up’.
‘She had always said sex was sex and love was love and she wasn’t one for double standards so she kept her reservations to herself and never asked me directly.’
Couple: Scott wrote: ‘On our second date, Bar had spoken to me in detail about her many, many conquests. She said it was always good to brush away the cobwebs’ (pictured in 2001)
When Barbara could drink no more, Scott would drop her off at their home in a taxi, claiming she wanted him to ‘enjoy himself’ back in the West End.
He wrote: ‘It wasn’t to stop women, although we both had a similar attitude towards sex, but to score some Coke.’
In her own memoir, All Of Me: My Extraordinary Life, the Carry On star blamed herself for her husband’s historic cocaine addiction.
She had written: ‘I think I could have stopped Scott’s spiral of self-destruction if it hadn’t been for another urge that turned him from the wonderful guy I loved into a sad, pathetic creature I almost didn’t could recognize.’
Tragic: Barbara died in December 2020 aged 83 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The couple married in April 2000 (pictured in 1972)
The National Treasurer said she was initially unaware her partner was ‘big into coke’ and later feared his addiction was developing due to the age gap in their relationship.
She continued: ‘I would look at him and think, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong and yet I’ve managed to ruin this man’s life.
“Scott would see the tears in my eyes and promise to go on the wagon. But it never lasted more than three or four days, and then he had to go on another bender.’
Eventually Scott received treatment from celebrity therapist Beechy Colclough with the guidance of Elton John’s manager John Reid.
Loss: The actor, 59, who is preparing to release his new book By Your Side, My Life Loves Barbara Windsor, was married to the actress for 20 years (pictured in 2019)
Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014 and kept her battle with the disease private for four years.
After her death, Scott told PA: ‘Her passing was due to Alzheimer’s/dementia and Barbara eventually passed away peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side.
‘I, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and light she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during of his career.
‘Barbara’s last weeks were typical of how she lived her life. Full of humour, drama and fighting spirit to the end.’
Barbara played Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders for more than 20 years.
The late actress appeared in a host of Carry On films between 1964 and 1974, including Carry On Spying, Carry On Doctor and Carry On Camping.
In true icon fashion, Barbara’s last TV role was starring in her own biopic, which chronicled her humble beginnings in Shoreditch up until 1993, with Jaime Winstone and Samantha Spiro playing the star at various points in her life.