BARBARA WINDSOR: Secret surgery has made me feel 10 years younger

EXCLUSIVE: Eastender comes out of hiding to reveal she's had 14,000 on nip/tuck

By Phil Taylor

BARBARA WINDSOR today unveils her stunning new look after spending $14,000 on plastic surgery.

In an exclusive interview with the News of the World, the Carry On and EastEnders star beamed: "I feel ten years younger!

"I'm thrilled with the results. I look and feel a new woman."

Babs, 67, puts her youthful appearance down to having her "turkey neck" lifted.

At the same time she had a hideous scar removed, liposuction on her tummy and a huge lump removed from her thigh.

Celebrities' surgeon Jan Stanek carried out the four-hour op at London's Welbeck Hospital last month. Babs chuckled: "In the operating theatre a black African doctor recognised my face and said, ‘You are Barbara from the Carry On films.' I giggled.

Ledge

"Then he saw my medical notes which had my real name Barbara Mitchell. He said, ‘No. You're Peggy Mitchell from EastEnders!'

"He'd known me in two great British classics, but didn't realise I was one and the same."

Blonde Babs revealed she first became unhappy with her body 11 years ago after what she felt was "botched" surgery.

"I had a hysterectomy and the hospital assured me I'd be left with a tiny scar," she said.

"But it was so long and curved it looked like the bend in the Thames in the EastEnders credits. I was shattered and felt I had lost some of my femininity.

"The gynaecologist promised me it would heal over time. In fact it got worse as fat built up around it and over a damaged muscle, leaving a ledge of flab.

"It meant my belly would fall over my knickers like an apron, which was very unflattering to say the least. I was so conscious of it I started wearing big pants like Bridget Jones to cover it up, long before Renee Zellweger made them fashionable.

"Then I saw Jan three years ago. He looked at my scar and said, ‘That can be easily rectified.' But just before I planned to have the op I was struck down with Epstein-Barr virus and I was left far too ill to have it."

Bubbly Babs was so ill with the virus in autumn 2003 that she admits she felt suicidal. "My husband Scott had to feed me and wash me in bed because I had no energy," she recalled.

Babs' health problems began when she was knocked out in a taxi crash in October, 2002. Soon afterwards she was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr, then she broke her ankle. Devoted Scott, 26 years her junior, had to push her around in a wheelchair.

"When I look back at that terrible picture of me looking old and frail when I had Epstein-Barr I barely recognise myself."

She added: "I felt so depressed I prayed to God and told him I wanted to die in my sleep. Now I feel guilty about that because after an 18-month battle and lots of prayers, I beat the virus and got my strength back.

"I then decided to get fit and my personal trainer, Roy Gayle, got me back in great shape. I even released my own fitness video and DVD called The Windsor Workout.

"But there were some things about my body I knew exercise couldn't put right. They removed the overhanging skin with liposuction. Now, to my delight, the scar is hidden and the ridge has gone."

Barbara wanted to Carry On with the plastic surgery. She said: "I hated my turkey neck. I like high-neck sweaters, but I noticed in the last three years that if I wore them the skin would come over the top.

"So Jan tightened the muscle and the skin was redraped over it. Now it has taken years off me and I can wear my high-neck sweaters again."

Wrinkles

She stressed: "I'd never have a facelift—as one newspaper wrongly reported to my anger—because I like the wrinkles on my face and forehead. They're my laughter lines. I'm not a saucy sex symbol any more, I'm a character actress." Babs, who has an MBE, told how Jan then made her third wish come true. "I had a large lipoma—a benign tumour of fat cells —removed from the top of my left thigh," she said.

"It was the size of a tangerine and caused me a lot of discomfort. I was a bit bruised but now, three weeks later, I look and feel fabulous. The total cost of the op, including three nights in hospital, was £13,585and I think it was worth every penny."

Barbara, whose bust helped launch her to stardom, confessed: "The only thing I'd have changed if I was younger is my boobs. The Carry On Camping scene where my bra pinged off was voted one of the most memorable film clips of all time.

"But I've never liked my boobs and I'd have had them reduced if the cosmetic surgery had been available in my younger days. I'm too old for that now, though, and will keep my boobs as they are."

Scott said: "I never wanted Barbara to have surgery. It was something she wanted. She looks great and is back to her bubbly best."

Babs agreed: "I look and feel like a woman in her 50s. I can swap my Bridget Jones big pants for more flattering underwear and I'm really excited about making my comeback on EastEnders."