EastEnders legend Jake Wood has teased a potential return to the soap, three years after leaving the role of Max Branning.
Jake, who played Max for 15 years on the soap, went on The One Show yesterday (Tuesday, March 5) to talk about his new project, a theatre adaptation of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend.
The show is set to debut on April 10 at London's National Theatre, where Jake plays waterman Gaffer Hexman and will also perform a solo song on stage, with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey having co-composed 12 new songs for the play.
Now, after his theatre stints, including 2:22 A Ghost Story, he has seemingly set his sights on making his TV comeback. Could he be making a return to the Square?
During his appearance on The One Show, Jake was asked if he would make a return to the small screen anytime soon.
"Definitely. I'm at the National until the end of June, then we'll see what happens after that, but yeah for sure," he said.
With EastEnders' 40th anniversary coming up, it would be the perfect time for Jake to reprise his role of notorious womanizer Max, especially since he has a lot of unfinished business left in Walford.
Max decided to leave the Square in 2021 after he was rejected by Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) following their affair.
However, Max is still oblivious to the fact that Linda fell pregnant with his baby, a daughter called Annie and the landlady has vowed to keep it a secret from him ever since, with his brother Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) and daughter Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) also in on the secret.
Lauren came back to Walford last year and made the bombshell discovery that she had a half-sister she knew nothing about.
Linda begged Lauren not to tell her dad about his secret daughter, insisting it was "not the right time" and Lauren later came to the decision that although she wouldn't lie, she would remain tight-lipped about Annie since Linda was struggling.
Could Max be making his way to Walford in the future?
EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm on BBC One — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on BBC iPlayer now.
