Soap stars’ real life dementia battles – actress ‘fading slowly’ to life in care home

It’s easy to see our favourite EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street stars as infallible, until the worst happens.

But over the years, some stars have sadly battled serious health conditions, and dementia is among them. Soaps have brought Alzheimer’s into the spotlight with storylines including Emmerdale vicar Ashley Thomas’ ordeal with the disease seven years ago.

Art reflects life, however, and soap stars including Dame Barbara Windsor have had their own dementia struggles. She noticed the first signs of the condition while the Carry On legend was still filming EastEnders, and couldn’t remember her lines.

Her widow Scott Mitchell revealed: “At this point Barbara had just left Eastenders in 2010 and just before that she told me she was struggling a bit with her lines, something she never did.” Scott said Vanessa Feltz was among the first to realise something was going on.

Speaking to her on TalkTV, he said: “You may not remember this, Vanessa, but I think the only person in show business, around 2016, 2017, you said to me at a function, ‘Is Barbara okay, Scott, because she doesn’t seem herself?’”

Barbara Windsor

EastEnders legend Barbara Windsor went public with her Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis in April 2014. She spoke about her own condition in a video, imploring people to “support ground-breaking research to find a cure for a condition that affects so many people, like me. With your help we can and will end dementia with research”.

Her widow Scott explained: “Despite all the changes in Barbara, there is still so much of her there. Her humour, wit and care for others, for example. It is her humour I love the most – we have always laughed a lot.”

But in July 2020, Barbara moved into a care home in London as her condition advanced. Scott told The Sun at the time: “I feel I’m on an emotional rollercoaster. I walk around, trying to keep busy, then burst in to tears. It feels like a bereavement.”

Scott theorised that a car crash could be the cause of Barbara’s condition, though there is no scientific evidence to prove it. The pair were travelling through London by black cab in 2002 when the driver tried to dodge a van but braked too late, sending the star “headfirst into the partition”.

Scott said: “I always believed that was the very start of Barbara’s ill health. She was never quite the same.”

Detailing aspects of her condition initially, he told an audience at Wimbledon BookFest: “The main symptoms were forgetfulness, it started getting more so, I’d find objects in the wrong place, the TV control in the fridge or in the sink, repetitive and confused conversation, it would come and go… but within this time after the diagnosis she went back to Eastenders a couple of times.”

Barbara would eventually forget who her husband was and ask: “Are we married?”. She died at the age of 83 in December 2020.

Julie Goodyear

Best known as the cigarette-toting, leopard-print lover Bet Lynch in Coronation Street, Julie Goodyear shared her Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2023. Now her husband has confirmed she is “slowly fading away” in a tragic update.

Her husband Scott Brand told The Mirror: “I miss the fun-loving wife that Julie had always been – the larger-than-life personality that brightened up everywhere she went, and the smile that lit up every room. All of this is now slowly fading away and it’s extremely painful for me to watch this deterioration.”

Julie now struggles to recognise people, and Scott shared symptoms of the “long goodbye” he is suffering. He added: “Not being able to spontaneously go out as husband and wife, holding hands as we stroll along, going for meals together and going shopping – all these losses for me symbolise the long goodbye.”

She has also lost interest in her appearance, going without make-up and ditching the leopard-print clothes. Scott quit his job to take care of Julie with the help of a Dementia Advisor.

Meg Johnson

Emmerdale star Meg Johnson passed away in 2023 at the age of 86 – and a statement confirmed she battled dementia “for the last few years” of her life.

A statement announcing the Pearl Ladderbanks’ star’s death read: “It is with great sadness that we announce that actress Meg Johnson passed away peacefully yesterday evening surrounded by her family. Meg was a kind and wonderful lady, full of warmth and always with a twinkle in her eye.

“Meg had an outstanding career that ended with her playing Pearl Ladderbanks in Emmerdale from 2003. Meg had dementia for the last few years, but battled on personally and professionally regardless. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.”