Ross Kemp reveals final words Barbara Windsor said to him on day of her death: ‘That will stay with me for the rest of my life’
Kemp played Windsor’s son Grant Mitchell on EastEnders
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Your support makes all the difference.Ross Kemp has shared the final words Barbara Windsor said to him prior to her death.
Windsor died on Thursday (10 December) in a London care home aged 83. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014.
Kemp, who played the actor’s on-screen son in EastEnders, was a long-time friend of Windsor’s and appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday (14 December) to pay tribute to her.
“I spoke to her three weeks ago on FaceTime and by that time Barbara was in a very bad state,” Kemp revealed.
“I asked her husband if she had a window, because of the nature of the illness it comes and goes – as you get to the end you lose more and more consciousness.”
He continued: “He rang me on Sunday afternoon and she just turned round to me and she said, ‘I just want everything to be good for you in your life.’ That is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Earlier this year, the actor presented a two-part documentary titled Ross Kemp: Living With Dementia inspired by his friendship with Windsor.
On the show, Kemp, who first appeared in EastEnders as the Carry On star’s son Grant Mitchell in 1990, recalled the first time Windsor had been unable to recognise him.
“I’ve been friends with Barbara and [her husband] Scott for 25 years. I see her as often as I can – every couple of months before the lockdown – and the deterioration in her condition has been shocking and to those of us close to her, deeply upsetting," he said.
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