DEMENTIA BATTLE
Heartbroken Ross Kemp reveals Dame Barbara Windsor doesn’t recognise pictures of herself in dementia battle
DAME Barbara Windsor no longer recognises pictures of herself, Ross Kemp has heartbreakingly revealed.
The legendary actress, 82, is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and her on-screen son has told how it has now stopped her from even recognising herself.
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He had not seen Barbara, who played Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders, since February due to the lockdown.
Speaking on today's Good Morning Britain, Ross said: "The nature of the disease is that initially she knew who I was and then in three minutes turned to me and asked who I was.
"She looks at pictures of herself - from her incredible career - and she asks ‘who’s that lady?’"
He also revealed how it is now not if but when Barbara has to go into a home.
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Ross said: "I don’t think it’s a may, sadly it’s going to happen in the nearer future than the long-term future. There has been a marked decline in her health. This is a disease where there is no cure. "
In Ross Kemp: Living with Dementia, the presenter returns to their home to speak to her husband Scott about the change in his wife’s condition.
Scott, who is Barbara’s primary carer, told how her condition had worryingly “progressed”.
Her speech is now getting worse — and she has become increasingly susceptible to falls in the middle of the night.
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He said: “I have seen a real progression. The thing that has started to happen with her is her speech.
“She can’t find the words and you just see that frustration building up within her. And what I hate is that eventually she gives up and she looks at me and she just goes (shakes his head). She can’t get it.
“The other thing is she has started to have falls more regularly. What will happen is she will get up, say, two or three times in the night because she needs to go to the bathroom.
“But her legs will give way and I’ll find her on the floor.”
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Scott warned: “Let’s not kid ourselves, and I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t talk about the realities of where this can end up, which can be people being totally bedridden, forgetting how to speak, forgetting how to swallow.
“It will take away everything. This will strip you of everything that you know as functioning normally.”
He and Babs starred together in EastEnders for several years, with Ross playing hardman Grant Mitchell, son of Queen Vic landlady Peggy, immortalised by Barbara.
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