{"id":146580,"date":"2025-09-16T04:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146580\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T04:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T04:39:10","slug":"eastenders-star-max-bowden-speaks-out-on-bens-dramatic-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146580\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders star Max Bowden speaks out on Ben’s dramatic return"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders spoilers<\/a> follow.<\/p>\n

EastEnders star Max Bowden has revealed that he wasn’t expecting to be asked back to the soap<\/a> for the return appearance he filmed recently. <\/p>\n

The actor will reprise his popular role as Ben Mitchell for a brief reappearance in the coming weeks, tying in with Callum Highway’s tragic new storyline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What to Read Next<\/p>\n

Talking exclusively on this week’s Soap Scoop podcast<\/a>, Max told Inside Soap<\/a>: “It was a surprise to me. It’s a little brief, fleeting visit, which was lovely to do.<\/p>\n

“It’s funny, isn’t it? Eighteen months or however seems like a really long time. It doesn’t feel like long has passed in the end, but to people who are there, it feels like you’ve been gone for ages.<\/p>\n

“It was interesting, but it was really, really lovely to see him.” <\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders confirms fresh start for Stacey as exit plot begins<\/a><\/p>\n

We know that Ben is back for the funeral of Callum’s dad Jonno<\/a>, but Max is staying tight-lipped about what happens with Ben and husband Callum now love rival Johnny Carter is on the scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During his interview with Soap Scoop, the actor wouldn\u2019t be drawn on the sneak filming pics which saw Ben and Callum locked in an embrace.
<\/p>\n

“That wasn’t scripted \u2013 Tony Clay [Callum] and I just hadn’t seen each other for a while!” he joked, clearly giving away nothing about Ballum’s upcoming reunion. <\/p>\n

Asked how he feels about Callum cheating on Ben with Johnny, Max replied: “I think you have to separate the character from the actor. The actor sees the reasons that Callum feels so torn and that place of isolation, loneliness and responsibility.<\/p>\n

Related: 6 huge new EastEnders spoilers for Sharon’s return \u2013 as Zoe delivers earth-shattering news<\/a><\/p>\n

“I think it makes sense that Callum has made the decision. I think Ben obviously doesn’t immediately see it that way, but I think reflection is important and it’s well written. I do think they’ve written it well.”<\/p>\n

Max is currently on tour with dark comedy play Murder at Midnight<\/a>, starring alongside other soap favourites like Susie Blake, Katie McGlynn and Jason Durr.<\/p>\n

Hit play below for the full chat to find out more about the play, Max’s EastEnders return \u2013 and his exclusive thoughts on the possibility of a full-time comeback as Ben\u2026<\/p>\n

Related: Exclusive \u2013 EastEnders stars tease more Trueman drama after Anthony’s big return<\/a><\/p>\n

Soap Scoop is available every Tuesday from midnight on Inside Soap’s YouTube channel<\/a>, or wherever you get your podcasts. <\/p>\n

You can also catch up on previous episodes, with celebrity guests including Coronation Street<\/a>‘s Sydney Martin (Betsy) and Emmerdale<\/a>‘s Lawrence Robb (Mack), plus bonus episodes where hosts Laura-Jayne and Chloe react to some of the biggest soap twists straight after they air. <\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for more exclusive chats, spoilers and reactions in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast. <\/p>\n

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Gaga in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders spoilers follow. EastEnders star Max Bowden has revealed that he wasn’t expecting to be asked back to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,428,99150,430,134,429,99149,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-146580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-content-type-news","11":"tag-contentid-b1fd9192-48fa-49be-9770-7a7fe992a23e","12":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-locale-gb","15":"tag-shorttitle-eastenders-star-speaks-out-on-bens-return","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}