Barbara Windsor has been doing “OK” amid her battle with Alzheimer’s disease, according to one of her former EastEnders co-stars.
Adam Woodyatt, who played Ian Beale in the long-running soap, has shared an update on the star’s health.
During his appearance on British talk show Lorraine on Monday, he said: “She’s OK. It’s not my place to say anything.”
The actor, 50, revealed the pair had recently enjoyed a night out to watch the musical 42nd Street in London.
He added: “We had such a laugh. She sang along the whole time.
“She went on stage afterwards, started doing tap dancing, she did wings, we were worried she was going to fall in the pits.”
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Barbara’s husband Scott revealed her Alzheimer’s diagnosis earlier this year, admitting she had actually been living with the disease since 2014.
Revealing the moment the 80-year-old actress, who also starred in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, found out the devastating news, Scott, 55, told The Sun at the time: “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 squeezed her hand back and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be OK’.”
Read more: Carry On, Chitty Chitty actress Barbara Windsor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
Revealing his fear that his wife will be judged for her changing appearance in public, Scott added: “Rather than me living in fear she might get confused or upset, they’ll know that if her behaviour seems strange, it’s due to Alzheimer’s and accept it for what it is.”
Globally, as many as 44 million people are living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. It typically impacts one in 10 people over the age of 65, although that number increases to one in three for people over 85.
Barbara famously played landlady Peggy Mitchell in UK soap EastEnders, which aired in Australia on the ABC from 1987 to 1991. She’s also a well known name right across the world, having begun her career on stage in 1950 at the age of 13, before going on to star in the Carry On films.
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