Dame Barbara Windsor would never be allowed to do ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 80-year-old actress was asked to take part in the ballroom and latin competition when it first hit television screens in 2004 but she was forced to turn it down because bosses at ‘EastEnders’ – she soap she was working on at the time – "wouldn’t let her".
But, although she’s no longer involved in the show – in which she played matriarch Peggy Mitchell – she believes she’s too old to slip into some dancing shoes.
Speaking at the Television and Radio Industry Club’s Christmas Lunch in the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, she said: "Now I’m 80, they wouldn’t ask me in case I had an accident because I could sue them for a lot of money."
However, although she regrets not hitting the dance floor, she is rooting for her friend Debbie McGee – who is currently taking part in the show – to lift the glitter ball trophy.
She explained: "I absolutely love it. Our Debs is doing very well. I think the public love her because she’s a lovely lady – and that comes across."
Barbara turned her back on ‘EastEnders’ last year when her alter-ego Peggy died from breast cancer and, although it was her decision to be killed off, she has admitted she would’ve stayed on the Square if she’d known June Whitfield had been cast as Sister Ruth – the nun who knew the truth about Kat Moon’s (Jessie Wallace) baby son – in 2016.
She said: "I was so thrilled when you joined. I said: ‘Why am I leaving? June is coming!’ If I’d known you were coming in I would’ve stayed. They aren’t like us, are they!"
Dame Barbara Windsor can’t do Strictly Come Dancing
