EastEnders confirms major Max Branning twist as unexpected connection to Zoe Slater is revealed

Max is Zoe’s mystery caller (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)

Max Branning (Jake Wood) has made a shock return to EastEnders – as a mystery caller who knows Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) from her time away from Walford.

It was announced earlier this year that Max would be returning for a short stint, followed by a more permanent comeback.

But nobody was expecting this!

Jake said at the time: ‘I’m over the moon to be coming home. Max has got lots of unresolved drama with many characters, so I’m sure he’ll be busy.

‘I’m excited to see what he’s been up to, and what is next for the character, but if his last 15 years in the Square are anything to go by, I’m sure there will be plenty of chaos.’

EastEnders’ Executive Producer Ben Wadey added: ‘I’m delighted to welcome the immensely talented Jake Wood back to the role of Max Branning.

‘Whilst his character has only been away from Albert Square for four years, Walford, and the lives of those who live in it, have changed immensely.

‘Max has a lot of unfinished business, but whether he is welcomed by his family remains to be seen.

Zoe returned to Albert Square earlier in the week (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)

‘However, with a past as checkered as Max’s, it’s fair to say that many Walford residents will not be pleased to see him, putting the Brannings back at the heart of the Square, and the drama, this year.’

Have Max and Zoe met before?

Max is no stranger to the Slaters, but didn’t arrive in Walford until over a year after Zoe fled for a new life in Ibiza.

Who can forget his steamy affair with her cousin Stacey (Lacey Turner)?

Very little is known about Zoe’s life away from the area, so we can only assume that they’ve become acquainted during the last four years, when we last caught up with Max.

Where has Max Branning been?

The character was last seen in the Square in 2021 when series star Jake quit to pursue other projects.

Max has supposedly been in Croatia (Picture: BBC) He will make a permanent return later in the year (Picture: BBC/Jack Barnes)

Max decided it was time to leave to join daughter Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and grandson Louie in New Zealand. 

At the time of his departure, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) – who he had an affair with the previous year – was pregnant with his daughter Annie.

He later moved to Croatia, and judging by recent comments made by Lauren and son Oscar (Pierre Moullier), both have been estranged for him for quite some time.

Zoe’s secrets begin to unravel

In June, Zoe revealed to Stacey and Alfie Moon (Shane Richie)  that she had done something ‘so bad’ that her family would disown her.

This is something she reaffirmed to mum Kat Moon (Jessie Wallace) earlier this week, branding herself a ‘monster’.

She is clearly still struggling with the reality that she was born as a result of sexual assault, something discovered back in 2001.

Zoe and Kat were in the firing line of a gun (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)

As the two women began to argue, it seemed like Zoe was prepared to begin discussing her inner turmoil, but that was stunted when a gunshot fired in their direction.

BBC bosses purposely kept viewers on the edge of their seats until tonight, choosing not to put the episode on iPlayer and keeping everyone wondering who was on the receiving end of the weapon.

While both Kat and Zoe ran away from the scene, the latter then collapsed on Bridge Street and had blood pouring from her abdomen.

Kat dragged her daughter into Walford East for safety, fearing that a crazed gunman was on the loose. There, as Zoe faded in and out of consciousness, she revealed that she has an enemy… ‘and they’re still alive.’

Who could she be referring to?

Alfie then brought the two into The Vic, carrying her almost lifeless body into the hallway. Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey) rushed in to give some medical expertise, but for a moment, it seemed like it was too late.

A flashback to 2006 showed Zoe in hospital, giving birth to twins.

Flashbacks revealed Zoe’s troubled past (Picture: BBC)

When she woke, she noticed that her baby girl – who was struggling to breathe – was nowhere to be seen. Zoe didn’t stick around to learn her fate and insisted that the boy be placed up for adoption.

Back in the present day, Zoe was whisked into hospital as a traumatised Kat sat waiting for news.

She noticed that Zoe’s phone was ringing and picked it up, assuming that the person on the other end was the one who had shot her daughter and was out for some sort of revenge.

This surely was the aforementioned enemy.

Just before the doof doofs crept in, Max was revealed as the mystery caller, but why exactly is he reaching out?

Is he targeting Zoe?

Answers will be revealed tomorrow, at 6am on BBC iPlayer and 7.30pm on BBC One.

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