EastEnders star Tanya Franks splits from Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell

EastEnders star Tanya Franks has split from Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell after three years together. The pair began dating in 2023 after meeting while they were both running the London Marathon in 2019 to raise money for Dementia Revolution.

In a statement to The Sun, Scott said: " I can confirm Tanya and I had a couple of wonderful years together. In true respect of each other, we felt in April our relationship should evolve into a now incredible and kind friendship.

"Tanya is also a highly private person. Out of respect for her, I will not be commenting any further on this matter."

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Windsor passed away in December 2020 at the age of 83 following struggles with Alzheimer’s disease. The couple had been married for 20 years, after meeting in 1992 through Scott's parents.

Speaking about his relationship with Tanya in 2024, Scott said she would have given them her blessing.

"I know [Barbara] wanted me to be happy, I know I deserve to be happy. It doesn’t take away anything that we shared," he said during an appearance on Kaye Adams' How to Be 60 podcast.

"All of our lives go by very quickly and we can be held back by worrying what others might say. You’ve just got to live your life."

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He went on to describe Tanya as "a wonderful lady who knew Barbara", adding: "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."

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

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