Ross Kemp has delivered a moving update on his great friend Dame Barbara Windsor and her battle with dementia.
The former EastEnders star turned documentary maker, 56, was asked about Barbara’s health on Good Morning Britain.
He said that he had recently video chatted with the Dame, 83.
He said she thankfully recognised him, but that we must remain ‘realistic’ on her condition.
Speaking to hosts Kate Garraway and Charlotte Hawkins, he said he was on GMB to represent Barbara’s commitment to the Poppy Appeal.
What has Ross Kemp said about Barbara Windsor?
He said: “The reason I’m doing this today is because I’m effectively standing in for her.
“I spoke to her on FaceTime on Sunday with her husband Scott.
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“She recognised me but I think we all have to be realistic that there is no cure for Alzheimer’s presently and it’s probably not going to get better for her.”
He went on to urge Brits to invest in a Red Poppy this November.
Before adding: “It’s an honour to be talking on her behalf.”
When was Barbara diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?
Ross met Barbara when they starred as mother and son on EastEnders.
And they’ve remained firm friends ever since.
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Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014.
Her husband Scott Mitchell, 57, revealed that Barbara had moved into a care home this summer.
He said that her condition had worsened during lockdown.
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Scott told The Sun: “It feels like a bereavement. It’s always been my biggest fear, that one day I would have to take her somewhere and she’d be thinking, ‘Why would he do this to me?’ That fear has become a reality. It’s something I never wanted.”
Meanwhile Ross has provided previous updates on Barbara.
Back in June he said she didn’t recognise him when he had last seen her.
Speaking to The Sun he explained: “Barbara was my ‘TV mum’ on EastEnders and is hilariously funny and vivacious, with a rapier wit — we’ve always had a giggle, on and off set.
“But now she clearly has no idea who I am.”
While speaking to Scott on his documentary Ross Kemp: Living With Dementia he said witnessing her deterioration was ‘deeply upsetting’.
The actor said: “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.”
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