OMG SHOCKING!!! Unexpected new EastEnders romance ‘confirmed’ for Max as he is left in shock

Max Branning (Jake Wood) receives some attention in EastEnders next week as newcomer Bea (Ronni Ancona) takes a shine to him.

Viewers of the BBC One soap will first encounter Bea this week as Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) sets her sights on the character, a former classmate, at a school reunion.

The former Queen Vic landlady isn’t sure that she wants to attend the reunion in question and thus asks Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) to accompany her.

In a bid to get Honey access, Linda claims that the market inspector is on the guest list – and is named Bea.

However, the real Bea soon arrives, which leads to some home truths about what Linda was like in her school days, leaving the former publican in shock.

The following week, Bea is staying at Peacock Palace – and it isn’t long before she gets her feet under the table. The newcomer is especially taken with Max, who is also a guest at the boutique hotel.

Linda offers to pick up the rest of Bea’s things from her old flat but when she discovers that Ollie has an issue at school Max steps in, taking Bea out so that Linda can focus her attention on her son.

Bea is quietly thrilled at the prospect of a ‘date’ with Max. Max, however, is less so but agrees to keep up the pretence for Linda’s sake.

Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Oscar (Pierre Counihan-Moullier), meanwhile, discuss doing something to mark Abi’s death and Max vows to be there – but he gets waylaid by his so-called date, which inevitably leads to more conflict with his children as Max is banned from attending.

And as for Bea, the newcomer confides in Honey that she thinks Linda orchestrated the whole ‘date’ thing to humiliate her.

The question is: could this ‘date’ lead to romance with Max?

It’s safe to say that any such encounter that Max has in the coming months will be analysed by fans in great detail, given the flashforward episode that aired on New Year’s Day.

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The offering in question, which was set one year down the line, saw the resident lothario getting set to wed a mystery woman. And not only that, but he was also seen in bed with another unknown resident, who is pregnant.

Speculation has been rife about the identity of his new bride and the pregnant woman, so could Bea factor into the events of the future?

EastEnders has confirmed a surprising change to Max Branning and Linda Carter’s romance plot next week, which could take the storyline in a very different direction. Max and Linda have been growing closer since Max returned to Walford, and he discovered that he is Annie’s biological dad.

This week, the former lovers had dinner together and shared a kiss – but Max was hiding a big secret. He previously found out that that his grandson Louie is the boy who was bullying Linda’s son Ollie at school.

When Max realised the truth, he confronted Lauren about Louie’s behaviour but wanted to keep Linda in the dark. However, the mischievous Bea overheard this conversation and soon passed on this gossip to Elaine.

Linda and Max were giddy the morning after their kiss, but when Elaine told her daughter about the situation regarding Louie, Linda was furious that Max knew and had deliberately kept this bombshell from her.

As the situation exploded between the two families, Elaine and Ian’s feud kicked off again, and Ian called the police on Elaine for confronting Louie about his bullying of Ollie.

In next week’s episodes, things are rather tense at Peacock Palace, and Max is keen to make amends by promising to end Ian’s vendetta against Elaine for good.

But it’s soon explained why Max wants to make peace, as in a conversation with Lauren, Max later reveals that he has real feelings for Linda and wants a serious relationship with her.

Max indeed manages to sort out the situation by bringing Louie round to apologise properly to Ollie for his actions. Linda is touched by Max’s efforts to play peacemaker, so invites him for a drink to get their co-parenting relationship back on track.

The arrangement of this date is music to Max’s ears, and he uses the opportunity to move forward with their relationship. He goes all out to romance Linda during their drink – but there’s a heartbreaking twist.

New spoilers have revealed that Max is unaware that Linda just wants to set a platonic tone between them so they can co-parent Annie as friends.

It seems that Max and Linda are in fact on very different pages when it comes to their relationship, but will Max make a move and how will Linda respond to his advances?