Pam St. Clement fought back the tears as she admitted it was "a sadness" she wasn't able to see Dame Barbara Windsor for "nearly a year" due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pam St Clement and Dame Barbara Windsor
The former 'EastEnders' actress has paid tribute to her late co-star, who passed away on Thursday (10.12.20) aged 83 following a six-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, and while she was informed about how Barbara was getting on by her husband Scott Mitchell, Pam wasn't able to meet up with her friend recently.
She said: "We've kept in close contact. He's kept me up to speed with everything that has been happening.
"I've been out of the country for most of this year ... well, nobody could go and visit her with the lockdowns and everything.
"Which is sad in a sense, because it means I haven't seen her for nearly a year. And that is a sadness to me."
Barbara made her first appearance as Peggy Mitchell in 1994, and Pam admitted she "felt like curtsying" when her co-star arrived on set.
She said: "It was such an extraordinary thing when we knew Barbara was coming into the show.
"I felt like curtsying when she came in.
"She said to me, 'Please tell me if I'm not doing anything right.' She probably had more experience behind a bar than I did."
Pam recalled meeting Barbara for the first time, when the Pat Butcher star was working at Joan Littlewood’s Theatre, at Stratford East, and she had to moon on stage, only to hear a cheeky laugh in the audience - which turned out to be her future 'EastEnders' colleague.
The star also has fond memories of the 'EastEnders' love triangle between their characters and their late co-star Mike Reid's alter-ego Frank Butcher.
When asked what her overriding memory of Barbara was, Pam told 'This Morning': "All those wonderful scenes that were written for Pat and Peggy, particularly over the love story with Frank.
"We had such fun, we had such good times. We both had the same work ethic, and we just got in there and did it."
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