EastEnders spoilers for next week: Max’s new lover revealed ahead of wedding
EastEnders has released new spoilers for the mystery surrounding who Max Branning is set to marry in 2027 by revealing a new lover for the womaniser, who is still flirting with Linda Carter
Max’s new lover revealed amid future bride mystery(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)
New spoilers about EastEnders have shown that the Walford Womaniser strikes again. A new player has entered the competition for Max Branning’s heart as the mystery around who he will marry in 2027 continues.
During the hotly anticipated New Year’s Day episode, fans watched as Max (Jake Wood) prepared to meet his fifth – yes fifth! – wife at the end of the aisle in 2027. Questions about who Max would be marrying were flooding social media in the days leading up to the special episode, as viewers hoped that the flashforward would reveal all about the next big relationship for the Branning man.
Max spent New Year’s Day preparing to marry his fifth wife(Image: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
The BBC were careful not to unveil who the lucky lady would be but teased four possible women. These included Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), who spent the last days of 2025 proclaiming her hatred for Max, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), who has already had a baby with the man, Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), who has said she thinks he’s attractive, and her mother Denise Fox (Diane Parish). Denise is currently married to Max’s brother Jack (Scott Maslen).
But in upcoming episodes, a fifth potential bride will make herself known. In one, Max will meet Bea Pollard, played by newcomer Ronni Ancona.
Bea is an old schoolmate of Linda Carter and is staying at Peacock Palace while she’s in Walford. She, like seemingly every other woman who comes to Albert Square, takes a shine to Max and is delighted when he offers to hang out with her so that Linda can focus on her son Ollie, who is having issues at school.
Bea believes she has a date with Max. Max, however, has different ideas. In the following episode, it is revealed that he never considered their time together to be romantic, but keeps up the pretence for Linda’s sake.
Ronni Ancona is joining the show(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
Their ‘date’ does not go to plan and Bea turns to Honey (Emma Barton), believing that Linda orchestrated the situation to embarrass her. But, knowing Max, this may not be the end for their relationship.
Max has wormed his way out of women’s bad books before. This is the man managed to convince his ex-wife Tanya (Jo Joyner) to get back together with him, even after he cheated on her with his son’s wife and upset her so much she tried to bury him alive. This is also the man who has managed four marriages and twenty affairs, so chances are he’ll be interested in Bea eventually.
Ronni has spoken openly about joining EastEnders. Teasing her scenes with Linda, she said: “Bea was in a more senior year at school than Linda, but that didn’t stop her being intimidated by her. They have both got very different perspectives on what happened at school, and initially she is very upset and slighted by that.
She went to school with Linda(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
“There are lots of twists and turns and lots of unexpected developments. She’s a mercurial character who is witty, and charismatic, yet vulnerable as well.”
She added: “Bea is misunderstood, and there’s a touch of desperation about her. When she feels cornered, she can become rather dangerous. Deep down, she just wants to be loved and to fit in. She’s the sort of person who ‘window-shops’ other people’s lives, trying to reshape herself into whoever she thinks others want her to be.
“In her mind, that’s the only way to earn love and attention – which is, unfortunately, quite misguided. Bea is intelligent, but she’s never achieved what she hoped for, so there’s an underlying frustration that her life hasn’t lived up to her potential.”
