Scott Mitchell says his wife Dame Barbara Windsor still has her "wonderful sense of humour", even as her Alzheimer’s disease progresses.
The 82-year-old actress was diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition in 2014, and her husband Scott – who cares for Barbara – has said that whilst the condition is "progressive" and slowly getting worse, Barbara is still battling to hold on to her sense of humour.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Scott said: "The thing that we know about dementia and Alzheimer’s is that it’s a progressive illness, so you know you’re heading in one direction. So, yes, things progress but she still has that wonderful sense of humour, she can still laugh and have a giggle and watch telly, and we go out occasionally. Whenever we get an invitation what I say is let’s say yes but I will let you know on the day if we’re going to be there or not, and it’s totally dependent on how Barbara is. We have the odd days out, we went to Downing Street and she was shouting at all the photographers and told them to behave themselves.
"Music helps, that’s a very common thing. That’s the thing about music and dementia it triggers the brain."
Scott, 56, spends most of his time caring for his wife, but has said he does get time to himself when he has professional carers come to help.
He added: "I do get hours to myself, I have carers come in and I have the occasional evening out now as you can see, I’m allowed out like a grown up."
Meanwhile, Scott recently said he’s "thrilled" at the "impact" the former ‘EastEnders’ star’s dementia story has had on other sufferers.
Asked if he was surprised by the response to Barbara’s story, Scott said: "I’m surprised, and I’m just thrilled that it’s had that kind of impact. Because that wasn’t the reason we went public, we went public because I couldn’t hide it any longer from people. Because Barbara always gets people coming up to her and it was beginning to be quite obvious."
Dame Barbara Windsor still has a ‘wonderful sense of humour’ amid Alzheimer’s battle
