Barabra Windsor's wild days before meeting 'love of her life' Scott Mitchell
There's no denying that Dame Barbara Windsor was a hit with men everywhere, turning heads and being showered with adoration and gifts by the likes of stars Frank Sinatra to Sid James and the notorious Kray twins.
The actress, who was best known for her work in the Carry On films and her iconic role as Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, previously shared the wild details of her romances in interviews and in her autobiography, All Of Me: My Extraordinary Life.
Despite passing in 2020, Barabara's love life is still of great interest to many fans and has become a talking point once again after the death of her first husband, Ronnie Knight on Monday, June 12.
The pair met while he was running nightclubs in Soho and they married in March 1964, ahead of Barbara's first Carry On film and ahead of her rise to fame.
They were husband and wife for over 20 years, divorcing in 1985.
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Actress Barbara Windsor and her husband Ronnie Knight (Mirrorpix)Barbara described her first husband as being "a bit of a rascal", adding: "But he was a good rascal, he was a very sweet man."
Some might feel this is a bit of an understatement, given he was a convicted criminal.
But despite his life of crime, this was the term Ronnie preferred, always denying he was a "gangster" and instead insisting he was a "loveable rascal".
Ronnie was arrested early on in their marriage for robbery and Barbara was worried the scandal would affect her career - so she lashed out at the barrister Nemone Lethbridge outside the Old Bailey.
Speaking in the Secrets of the Krays documentary, Nemone recalled the incident, saying: "Barbara's husband was arrested, he was a gangster so I went down to the Old Bailey to apply for bail.
"It [the defence] was the usual thing... settled address, strong community ties, charitable activities, all the cliches, and then: married to a distinguished actress. And the boys in the press gallery go balmy shouting, 'Who? Who? Who?'
"Barbara was furious with me and she came up to me outside the court and she said, 'You f**king little cow, they won't sell me with a pound of sugar in this business now that you've let the cat out of the bag'.
Barbara with Reggie Kray (right) and her husband Ronnie Knight (left) (Getty Images)"But, in fact, it was quite the reverse, the press fell in love with her. They thought she was the cheeky little cockney sparrow who stood by her man," Nemone added.
Despite this, she stayed with him, even when he was later arrested for the murder of Alfredo Zomparelli, who had stabbed his brother to death in 1970.
He was acquitted of the crime in 1980.
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But his connections to the criminal underworld didn't stop there as he was then linked to the biggest cash theft in history, when £6m was stolen from a Security Express depot in Shoreditch, London.
He then spent a decade on the run living in the Costa del Sol in Spain and when he finally returned to the UK, he was sentenced on January 4, 1995, to seven years in prison for handling £314,813 in stolen money from the armed robbery. He was 60 at the time.
Despite previously claiming he'd "found what [he] wanted" in his relationship with Barbara, Ronnie didn't say goodbye to his wife when he scarpered to Spain, later saying it was because she was "fixed on this showbusiness thing" and he knew he would be gone for some time.
Barnara had an affair with her Carry On co-star Sid James (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)During her marriage to Ronnie, Barbara embarked on a well-publicised affair with her Carry On co-star Sid James who had been "pestering" her for months.
Barbara once told The Mirror: "He'd been pestering me for months. At the time, I didn't even fancy him.
"But he obviously thought I was this raving, sexy little thing and I thought if I did the dirty deed he'd leave me alone."
But their connection proved to be about more than just sex and led to a deeply emotional affair that spanned a number of years.
"I loved him in the end," she admitted. "But I also loved Ronnie. I felt safe with him."
She later told the BBC that their relationship was "inevitable" as Sid was "an old-fashioned charmer" who made her feel like a lady.
Their affair ended sixteen months before Sid passed away in April 1976.
As reported by The Express, Barbara claims Sid, who was married to Valerie James at the time, was infatuated with her before his death.
She says he had told her: "If I can't have you, I want to die."
She added: "One night after dinner he said, 'Oh Barbara, I wish you were seeing me as I used to be.'
"Sid was crazily, madly in love with me. When it ended he told me he would last only one year without me. Sixteen months later he died."
After learning of Sid's passing, a devastated Barbara says she sat in her front room and "sobbed [her] heart out until [her] eyes stung and [her] throat ached."
Barbara and her second husband Stephen Hollings (TV Times via Getty Images)
The star was very honest about her relationships and flings over the years (UK Press via Getty Images)Barbara went on to marry her second husband, Stephen Hollings, a chef and restauranteur in Jamaica, in April 1986.
The pair met in Scarborough, while Stephen was working at The Corner and Barbara was appearing in a play at Floral Hall.
Stephen, who was 18 years her junior, was married to the actress for nine years before they divorced in 1995.
The couple purchased the 14th-century Plough Inn at Amersham in Buckinghamshire to run, but much like their marriage, the business collapsed.
This failed venture reportedly left Barbara with debts of more than £1million.
During this relationship, Barbara was introduced to the man that would later become her third husband and the love of her life.
In 1992, the star had plans to go out with her friends, and the son of one of them, a young man named Scot Mitchell, offered to give her a lift to the meal.
She was 55 and he was 29, but despite the age gap, the chemistry between them was instant.
Writing in her book, All of Me, the star recalled how she told him: "You're a very smart young man."
She kept in touch with Scott, but as she was married, she insisted he was no more than a friend, adding: "A charming, intelligent, and attractive friend, admittedly."
But when Barbara's marriage floundered, the dynamic between her and Scott quickly shifted during a dinner with friends.
"We were very tipsy and I was happier than I'd been for ages," she said.
"Suddenly I grabbed Scott's hand and started running along Marylebone Lane, giggling like a naughty schoolgirl.
"We both knew deep feelings were stirring. I sensed it was serious when I did something out of character: I rang Scott and invited him out. I felt like Mrs Robinson in The Graduate."
Scott was the love of Barbara's life (PA)After eight years of dating, the couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel with just three witnesses in 2000. She described her third wedding day as "the happiest day of my life" and admitted she couldn't stop crying with joy as she married the love of her life.
"Meeting Scott is the best thing that ever happened to me," she said in 2017.
However, their happiness came crashing down in 2014 when Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her first thought was for Scott, who told how she, "began crying then held it back, stretched her hand out to me and mouthed, 'I'm so sorry.'"
He continued: "I squeezed her hand back and said, 'Don't worry, we'll be OK.'"
Her condition was revealed to the public in 2018 by Scott and he later had to take the heart-wrenching decision to put his wife into a care home amid her worsening dementia battle. He said the move felt like a "bereavement" but it was what needed to happen for her wellbeing.
Barbara died on December 10, 2020, aged 83, and following her death, Scott admitted to David Walliams that he was scared he might "never love again".
He said: "I was blessed to have crossed paths with Barbara. On paper, it shouldn't have worked, but it did with us and I am so thankful that she chose me to share her life with because I don't think I will ever find another."
Scott feared he'd 'never love again' after Barbara died (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Scott is said to be 'truly happy' with Tanya Franks (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)However, three years on the 60-year-old widower is said to have fallen for another EastEnders star and is believed to be "truly happy" with Tanya Franks.
The 55-year-old actress played Rainie Cross in the soap full-time from 2007 to 2018. She officially left the show in August 2022 and has also had roles in Pulling and Broadchurch. She and Scott are thought to have gotten close while they were training for the London Marathon alongside a team of EastEnders castmates to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK in Barbara's memory.
Speaking of finding love again, Scott recently told The Sun: "Life feels really good right now," before adding: "Life feels really good right now and we are enjoying some special time together."
A source also told the newspaper: "His and Barbara's friends are delighted he's found someone to share his life with. It's fairly early days but Scott is cautiously now looking forward to the future. They made the decision to update their wider circles while on holiday in Greece and everyone was over the moon."
The source added that the new couple are "taking things slowly" but there's "so much friendship and respect".
Barbara admitted she'd had a crush on her EastEnders co-stars Ross Kemp and Steve McFadden, who played her sons (PA)As well as her three husbands, Barbara was also romantically linked to a number of other men, including one of the Kray Twins.
In her book, she revealed she'd had a romp with Reggie Kray and also dated his older brother Charles Kray before her marriage to Ronnie.
Never afraid of going into excruciating detail, Barbara said: "I'd discovered the joys of sex and I'd become a right little goer, putting it about freely."
Other relationships included flings with Anthony Newley, and Bing Crosby's son, Gary.
She also claims to have bedded footballer George Best after a film premiere in Manchester in the 1960s, describing him as "a vision... fabulous".
And she told how she took late Bee Gee Maurice Gibb to bed in a bid to ease his stage fright.
She said: "When the Bee Gees broke up I was doing a musical and they wanted Maurice.
"He was very good in the show but director Ned Sherrin came up to me and said, 'He has no balls on stage, you have to do something'.
"So I asked him for dinner but he said, 'Let's just go to bed'. He knew he was not getting it on stage. He was better next time."
And if that weren't enough, the cheeky star also previously admitted to having a crush on the actors playing her on-screen sons in EastEnders, Ross Kemp (Grant Mitchell) and Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell).
"I fancy them both rotten," she admitted in her autobiography.
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