Dame Barbara Windsor “recognised” Ross Kemp amidst her battle with Alzheimer's.
Barbara Windsor
The former ‘EastEnders’ actress - who was diagnosed with the disease in 2014 - remembered her on-screen son during a recent FaceTime call.
Speaking on ITV's ‘Good Morning Britain’ on Thursday (22.10.20), Ross - who played Grant Mitchell on the soap - revealed: "I spoke to her on Sunday on FaceTime with her husband Scott.
"She recognised me, but we have to be realistic that there is no cure for Alzheimer's. It's probably not going to get much better for her."
Barbara is best known for her iconic role as Peggy Mitchell on the BBC soap opera, who took over The Queen Vic with her sons Phil (Steve McFadden) and Grant.
Meanwhile, the 83-year-old actress’ health condition had worsened during the lockdown period and her husband Scott Mitchell looked at alternative care options.
Ross Kemp told The One Show: "Well, we did a documentary about Alzheimer's and she was really the spur behind making that film.
"Sadly during lockdown she had gotten a lot worse and Scott, her husband, is thinking about finding alternative care for her because that is basically what happens with that disease. It is the biggest killer in the UK and sadly there is no cure."
Ross recently fronted his own show about dementia, 'Ross Kemp: Living with Dementia', with Barbara and Scott's story taking focus in the show, and the actor and presenter believes they decided to take part in the programme as they didn't want to "hide" their experiences and wanted to help others.
He added of their decision to take part: "I think they decided once she got diagnosed they were not going to hide from it. They were going to make it as public as possible to create as much awareness as possible.
"For a lot of people when they get that diagnosis they don't know what to do and I think someone like Dame Barbara talking about it has lifted again a lot of the stigma."
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