Barbara Windsor’s onscreen EastEnders son, Ross Kemp, paid tribute to her on social media on Friday following her death aged 83 from Alzheimer’s disease.
Ross, 56, best known for playing hardman Grant Mitchell, said he would ‘miss her always.’
He wrote: ‘Dame Barbara Windsor, the woman who always had time for everybody, has sadly left us.
‘I’ll miss you always’: Barbara Windsor’s EastEnders son Ross Kemp pair tribute to the ‘woman who always had time for everybody’ on Instagram on Friday following her death aged 83
‘I will miss Bar always. My thoughts are with her husband Scott, who could have done no more and who stayed strong for her to the very end.’
Barbara died at 8.35pm on Thursday at a London care home, her husband Scott Mitchell, 57, confirmed.
She starred on EastEnders as pub landlady Peggy Mitchell on and off from 1994 to 2016 and was famous for her catchphrase: ‘Get outta ma pub!’
Family: Ross played Grant Mitchell, Peggy’s hardman son in EastEnders (left), pictured alongside her other onscreen son, Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell, (right)
Back in June, Ross, who was close friends with Barbara and her husband Scott, said there had been a ‘marked decline in her health’ ahead of her move to a care home.
The TV star has made a film with Dame Barbara’s husband Scott Mitchell and other families living with dementia
The Carry On actress was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2014 and is now being cared for round-the-clock by her husband Scott
Ross appeared on Good Morning Britain back then that Barbara no longer recognised herself as he gave a heartbreaking update.
He explained: ‘She looks at the pictures of her in her heyday and career and goes “who is that lady”?’
Speaking about his programme titled Ross Kemp: Living with Dementia, Ross explained to Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard that Dame Barbara’s battle has had a severe effect on Scott too, as the star’s primary carer.
‘If you look at Scott from the episode that went out last week to this week, that covers Mid-Feb to the present day, you look at the impact it’s had on him,’ he explained.
‘The moment dementia is diagnosed not only does it have an affect on that person it’s like dropping a pebble in a pool, it goes across family. The onus is sadly on those loved ones to care for that individual.’
Ross said he last saw Barbara in February, shortly before the coronavirus lockdown.
Meanwhile, Steve McFadden, 61 who plays Peggy’s other son, Phil Mitchell, also paid tribute to the iconic actress.
His representative said he was ‘devastated’ by her death as he led tributes for the beloved actress.
And Steve said: ‘I truly loved Barbara and, like everyone, I am going to miss her terribly.
‘When anyone ever asked what she was like, I would always say she was everything you would hope she would be, and more.’
Danniella Westbrook, 47, who played Peggy’s daughter Sam, appeared on BBC Breakfast on Friday:
She said: ‘She was the most feisty, hardworking woman I’ve ever met in my life.
‘I learned everything I know from her work-wise. She taught me how to listen. The woman was phenomenal.
‘She did pages and pages of learning and walked into the Queen Vic and it was like she was always meant to have been there.
‘She raised the game of the whole show.’