Barbara Windsor opens up about her decision not to have children
The TV legend is set to appear in a docudrama about her life, to mark her 80th birthday
Actress, singer, and bona fide national treasure Barbara Windsor has opened up about her decision not to have children and the - at times - tumultuous relationship she had with her own mother.
Speaking to The Sun, the EastEnders and Carry On legend admitted that she'd had five abortions throughout her lifetime, saying: 'My mother never told me anything about the facts of life. It was ridiculous. I'd make a mistake then go straight on and do it again. I was so naive.'
'I knew it was wrong, against what you should do. I'm the generation where you kept your feelings to yourself, so I always made out everything was fine. But I went through a lot of mental stress. I thought a lot about God and what he would think of me.'
However, despite her internal struggles, Barbara maintains that she doesn't regret not having children.
'I consider myself to be a warm and lovely person but I never had any maternal feelings. Neither did my mother, so that message was constantly fed to me as a child,' she explained. 'My mother was a new type of woman. Down the road they had five or six kids but she always said, "One is enough". I often felt that she regretted having me.'
79-year-old Barbara is to be the subject of a new BBC docudrama, simply titled 'Babs', ahead of her 80th birthday later this year.
She'll be played by fellow East-End star Jaime Winston, and had a say in the casting, as well as acting in a couple of scenes herself. She says it's 'a wonderful film,' but that it 'felt weird to watch my life literally flashing before my eyes.'
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The making of the documentary has clearly struck up some old emotions for Bar, as her friends call her, who admits: 'It's made me very reflective because it's stirred up a lot of feelings about my past.'
Babs will air on BBC1, 8pm on Sunday 7th May
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