Barbara Windsors widow opens up on judgement over age gap
Barbara Windsor's widow on being judged over age gap
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Speaking on Loose Women on Monday, Scott, 59, reflected on the early stages of his relationship with the late Barbara Windsor, who was 26 years older than him. He delved into the impact the reaction to their relationship had on him, explaining he “didn’t cope well” and turned to alcohol and drugs because of judgement he and the EastEnders legend had received when they went public.
Scott and Barbara married in 2000, when he was 37 and she was 63. The age gap led to some “judgement” from others as well as doubts over the marriage.
The TV icon had been married twice before, once to Ronnie Knight in 1964, then to Stephen Hollings in 1986.
In 2000, Barbara got married for the last time to fellow actor Scott, who remained married to her until her death in 2020.
The couple had met through Scott’s parents, who had hoped the famous face could influence Scott’s acting career.
Speaking to the Loose Women panel, Ruth Langsford stated to Scott: “It was a long life with Barbara.”
“27 years,” Scott explained. “Yeah, we were married for 20, against all odds.
“I mean let’s be honest, on paper when we first met, everyone laughed and said it wouldn’t last.
“So, we kind of dealt with all that stuff at the beginning.”
“Was that hard to deal with at the beginning?” Coleen Nolan asked. “Because you did get a lot of that.”
“Absolutely,” Scott admitted. “Yeah, it was hard. I didn’t handle it particularly well, in the sense that at the time, I used to drink quite heavily and my way of dealing with stuff was to drink and take drugs and numb it all out.”
He continued: “It was a very difficult thing. We just wanted to be together.
“But there was this kind of…” As he hesitated, Coleen helped him out, adding: “Force, almost?”
“Yeah, this outside force judging us,” he confirmed, recalling the difficult aspect of his relationship.
“Just because of the age gap, do you think?” Ruth probed.
Scott replied: “Mainly the age gap, the 26-year age gap. Yeah, of course, Barbara and my mum went to dance school together when they were 11.
“It wasn’t a normal thing, but the great thing was we knew that, Barbara and I accepted that.
“We didn’t kid ourselves about how we were viewed by people.”
Scott has previously admitted he and Barbara tried to hide their relationship at the beginning.
However, with Dame Barbara a household name, it didn’t take long for the public to work out their secret,
Once Barbara’s EastEnders fame took off, Scott explained that they no longer tried to hide their romance.
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV.
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