Dame Barbara Windsor was reluctant to take EastEnders role

Dame Barbara Windsor feared that she was the wrong person to play Peggy Mitchell.

The late 'Carry On' actress portrayed the 'EastEnders' landlady - who is considered to be one of the BBC soap's most iconic characters - between 1994 and 2016 but her widower Scott Mitchell has revealed that she was reluctant to work on the small screen at first.

Scott told the 'What If? podcast: "We didn't know how it was going to go. She was very nervous about 'EastEnders'.

"She didn't think she was right for TV. She said, 'Oh, I'm too big Scott, I'm all hands, jazz hands, and everything.'

"She didn't think she'd knuckle down to that style of acting. It's ridiculous. She'd done it all."

Scott, 59, believes that the gap between Barbara's appearances in 'Carry On' and 'EastEnders' meant that the actress - who died aged 83 in 2020 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease - lost confidence in herself.

He said: "But when people go through that phase when let's say, between the 'Carry On' phase and 'EastEnders', there may be a dip in your career, I think it's very natural for artists to lose confidence as well, and I think Barbara lost her confidence.

"So she really worked. I remember in the early days of 'EastEnders' she'd come back and say, 'Oh Scott, I feel like the novice there.'

"But she'd say, 'I'm going to work hard and I'm going to make sure I get it.' And that's what she did."

Ross Kemp played Peggy's son Grant Mitchell in the soap and says that he still feels Barbara's presence.

The 58-year-old star said: "There is always a bit of Barbara hanging around. I have got a picture of Barbara at home in my house, which I will always keep.

"It's very dear to me. She gave it to me when I first met her. I will always keep it."