DAME Barbara Windsor’s best pal Christopher Biggins has revealed they’re planning an enormous send off for the telly legend in 2022 – after Covid-19 put limits on numbers at her funeral.
The Carry On actress died in December aged 82, six years on from her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Speaking for the first time about the funeral, Christopher, 72, said: “It was an extremely sad day.
“There were just 29 of us there because that morning one of the guests got Covid, can you believe it?
“To play to 29 people who were sad and upset, it was very difficult to get the odd laugh here and there.
“And of course, you had to have a laugh because Barbara was a funny woman.
“Most of my memories are of having a great laugh with her. That is what she was about so it was really terribly sad.
“Sadly I think this is going to go on until 2023 before we go back to complete normality but let’s hope that at the end of this year or the beginning of 2022 we really can send her off in a big way.
“Normally we could have filled Wembley Stadium with people who would have wanted to say goodbye.
“The streets would have been lined.”
Christopher was incredibly close to Barbara and her husband, recruitment consultant Scott Mitchell.
The actor praised Scott, 58, for caring for Barbara since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2014.
The disease, an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, left the EastEnders star unable to recognise her loved ones and Scott, who wed Barbara in 2000, later put her into a residential home so she could receive around the clock care.
Christopher added: “If I could organise it I would make Scott a saint tomorrow because he was extraordinary with Barbara. He was just wonderful.
“And they were just very much in love. Towards the end, the last few months were tragic for him and for Barbara. It was not very pleasant.”
Christopher, who has spent lockdown with his husband Neil Sinclair at their home in East London, received his first Covid-19 injection earlier this month.
He is now preparing to return to live television and will be hosting a live variety day on the Create and Craft channel tomorrow.
Speaking about the gig, Christopher said: “I absolutely love live TV and I cannot wait to get started.
“I’m no good at crafting but I hope they put me on the spot. That is what makes live television so much fun.”
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