CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM TUESDAY’S EPISODE EastEnders fans were left wondering if Max Branning was leaving after something happened to him on his wedding day to Cindy Beale
EastEnders fans were left wondering if Max Branning was leaving after something happened to him(Image: BBC)
EastEnders residents feared Max Branning would die at the end of Tuesday’s episode.
Warning, this story contains spoilers from Tuesday’s episode which is on BBC iPlayer now! The character played by actor Jake Wood appeared to suffer a medical emergency, possibly a heart attack, on the day of his wedding to Cindy Beale.
But is Max leaving the show and is he dead? We have the answers as a major clue gives away his fate – while one star has confirmed a death for a separate character.
Max has no doubt been stressed after his affair with Priya Nandra-Hart was exposed to Linda Carter and Lauren Branning. So when Linda burst into the ceremony just as Max and Cindy were saying their vows, Max was worried.
Linda and Priya, and Lauren, kept quiet though, and the ceremony went ahead. It was during the lavish wedding reception that Max was on edge, and things took a turn.
Spoilers had teased chaos but they did not reveal that Max would be left possibly fighting for his life. As Max prepared to give a speech he began looking around the room, and he stayed silent.
As guests started to wonder what was going on, Max began breathing heavily. Suddenly he stared at Cindy and staggered a little, and he did not look well at all. Max then clutched his chest, and fell to the floor, looking in pain.
Struggling for breathe, Max appeared to be losing consciousness as Cindy screamed out and others, including Max’s brother Jack Branning, got to their feet. Everyone looked panicked, but what has happened to Max and does he die?
Spoiler alert, Max survives. How do we know this? Because he’s in the flashforward episode, that is set in January 2027. So unless this turns out to be some sort of dream episode, Max is alive on New Year’s Day 2027.
Someone who will not be alive then is Zoe Slater, who dies this week on the BBC soap. Tuesday’s episode appeared to confirm Zoe’s future cause of death, while spoilers could suggest there is more to come on this.
Michelle Ryan, who plays Zoe, confirmed in an interview this week that she and bosses mutually agreed for her to leave. She also said there was no bad blood with bosses over the decision to kill off Zoe, a year after her big comeback.
Zoe debuted in 2000 and left in 2005, before returning 20 years later. Scenes next week see Kat Slater find her daughter Zoe dead.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
