Barbara Windsor’s widower Scott Mitchell and his girlfriend Tanya Franks made a rare appearance together as he supported her at her theatre show party on Thursday.
The couple, who went public with their romance nine months ago, cosied up for pictures at the party as they celebrated Tanya’s role in The Power of a Sail.
They haven’t been seen together for months since they revealed their romance was borne out of Scott’s fundraising efforts in memory of late wife EastEnders star Barbara who died in 2020 aged 83 following a battle with Alzheimer’s.
The pair said on the Good Morning Britain show in July they met during training for Scott’s fundraising marathons and were so happy that the friendship had developed into romance.
Scott, 60, later told Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast he is ‘very happy’ in his new relationship, with Tanya, 55, who is ‘very understanding’.
Barbara Windsor’s widower Scott Mitchell and his girlfriend Tanya Franks made a rare public appearance at The Power of a Sail theatre show afterparty in London on Thursday
Dame Barbara died three years ago on December 10 aged 83 after a brave seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease (Scott and Barbara seen in 2011)
Tanya and Scott revealed they bonded fundraising in memory of Scott’s late wife Barbara Windsor – Tanya and Barbara both starred in EastEnders
Tanya stars in The Power Of A Sail which tells the story of a Harvard professor, who has brought a storm upon campus by inviting a white nationalist to his yearly symposium
Despite the new couple’s happiness they keep a low profile, not seen in public since they took a stroll down London’s streets last year.
However the pair looked in good spirits as they shared the joy of Tanya’s main part in the moral thriller theatre show The Power Of A Sail, on show until this May.
They looked in-sync wearing beaming, real smiles at being together as they leaned in close at the press night held at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.
Scott let his hair down in a flowery 70s-style shirt and a straw-coloured textured blazer matching the laid-bag old-school effect of Tanya’s boot cut jeans and deep purple classic get-up.
The play tells tells the story of a Harvard professor who invites a white nationalist to the university to share his views despite students’ protests and will bring lots to think about for the audience.
Scott, (far right) raised more than £170,000 for Alzheimers research UK but stopped fundsraising when he realised he needed to move on, (pictured last year)
Scott told Kaye Adams: ‘(Tanya is) a wonderful lady who knew Barbara. It can’t be easy to be with someone who was the other half of Barbara Windsor, especially the fact that I still put myself out there and talk about her.
‘So, it says to me the type of person that Tanya is, that she can deal with that. She’s very sure of herself as a person. Just because you’re not with someone for whatever reason, it doesn’t mean to say that you just switch off some valve of love.’
Scott organised three marathons for Barbara which raised £170,000 and after his third he announced he would stop and start focusing on himself and moving on.
He said: ‘For the last few years I have tried to keep Barbara’s memory alive. I’ve done my best to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s and dementia but I think after this marathon it will be time to pull back a little.
‘It has been really important for me to do but it’s now time to focus on myself for a bit.
On World Alzheimer’s day last year on This Morning he said: ‘Me feeling miserable now or being alone isn’t gonna bring [Barbara] back, and she wouldn’t want that. I know that the one person who would be happy for me is Barbara Windsor.”