Barbara Windsor once revealed she hated her role in EastEnders’ controversial HIV storyline

Actor died yesterday aged 83

Dame Barbara Windsor has died at the age of 83 yesterday (10 December), six years after her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.

As tributes pour in for the EastEnders and Carry On star, people have been sharing memories and stories from Windsor’s past.

One story involves the time EastEnders tackled Aids, which Windsor said she was uncomfortable with as the plot saw her character discriminate against another who was believed to have the condition.

In the series, Windsor’s character Peggy Mitchell ejected Mark Fowler (Todd Carty) from her pub because of his HIV diagnosis, believing he had Aids.

“They gave it to someone else and they refused to do it. They gave it to me,” she said on The One Show in 2016.

She also described the backlash she received after the episode’s initial airing, saying that she was even accosted by an angry viewer in Blackpool.

In the wake of Windsor’s death, her husband, Scott Mitchell, issued a statement.

Paying tribute to the late actor, he wrote:  “It is with deep sadness that I can confirm that my darling wife Barbara passed away at 8.35pm on Thursday 10 December at a London care home.

“Her passing was from Alzheimer’s/dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side.”