Barbara Windsor retires after going public with Alzheimer's Disease

Legendary actress Barbara Windsor has announced her retirement after revealing she has Alzheimer’s Disease.

The former EastEnders star, 80, has secretly been battling the disease for the past several years, with the British icon’s husband, Scott Mitchell, 55, having revealed the news during a recent interview.

Speaking with the Sun, he said that the Carry On movie star had wept when she was diagnosed with the disease: ‘When the doctor told us, she began crying then held it back, stretched her hand out to me and mouthed, “I’m so sorry”.’

‘I can’t protect her any longer.

‘And, since her 80th birthday last August, a definite continual confusion has set in, so it’s becoming a lot more difficult for us to hide.’

He also shared that she ‘comes alive’ whenever they go out with friends, but is sadly ‘lives in constant terror’ that she might have a panic attack, or ‘get photographed when she’s not looking right’.

The decision to make the news public and retire from the world of show biz and acting has come at a time when he says her symptoms ‘grew steadily worse’ over the past few weeks.

He confirmed that the couple had discussed going public and even though she agreed he admits she may forget their talk in time to come, saying ‘if she forgets that she gave me her blessing, well, I’ll just have to deal with that.’

When Mitchell convinced her to return to EastEnders in 2016 for one final time, as the show killed off soap legend Peggy Mitchell – but all while keeping her diagnosis a secret from anyone on the show, including its producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins.

Last year, Windsor stepped away from doing panto, as her husband says their aim now is to ‘effectively and sensitively’ try to manage her illness as best they can.

Windsor began acting back in 1954 with an uncredited role in The Bells of St. Trinian’s, appearing in a host of shows like Doctor Who and films – including the popular Carry On movie franchise – in a career that spanned seven decades.

She most famously appeared in over 1,500 episodes of BBC’s EastEnders, which began in 1994 and concluded in 2016.

If you need any further information on coping with Alzheimer’s Disease, visit the Alzheimer’s website.

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