The actor made a shock comeback this week where it was revealed Max has had a secret relationship with troubled Zoe

EastEnders star Jake Wood reveals secrets of his shock comeback as Max Branning after five years away

EASTENDERS legend Jake Wood has revealed all about Max Branning’s shock romance with Zoe Slater after he made his comeback this week.

The actor is returning to play Max after a five year absence and made his screen return in last night’s episode.

Max Branning on the phone in EastEnders.
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Max Branning has returned to EastEnders after five yearsCredit: BBC

Jake Wood at Walford East Station.
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Jake has revealed the secrets behind Max’s relationship with Zoe SlaterCredit: BBC

Screenshot of a man and woman lying in bed.
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Max and Zoe are the Square’s newest warring coupleCredit: BBC
It was revealed that Max was involved with Zoe Slater somehow and tonight’s episode revealed how they had met in a bar and hit it off before becoming serious.

Viewers watched as Max helped Zoe in her quest to find the son she gave up for adoption by hiring a private detective.

But in shocking scenes he attacked Zoe and she hit him with a lamp and fled, leaving Max behind when he didn’t immediately go on the run with her.

Now with Zoe in Walford having been shot, she contacted him to tell him to stay away from her or she’d end him herself.

And now Jake has revealed that it’s Zoe that will bring him back to Walford after all.

Speaking to The Sun and other press last night, Jake said: “I’m excited, just totally excited.

“I knew that Michelle was coming back, really pleased that, obviously that she was coming back to that she wasn’t being recast, iconic character, and I think it’s really interesting to have Max in the mix, it just makes everything so more complicated.

“I do return for a little bit, quite soon before my sort of permanent return.”

And opening up about Max’s relationship with Zoe, he added: “So they met out at a bar. Max overheard that she was possibly a Slater, so I think that sparked his interest.

“The Slater radar went off.  And very quickly established that there was a family connection.

EastEnders legend Max Branning returns – as Zoe Slater is left fighting for her life after shock shooting
“I mean, from my point of view, I think the relationship between them is genuine. I think there are genuine feelings between them.

“But I think by the time Max comes back onto the Square, it’s just become very complicated in terms of in terms of where Max is at and what he’s at that moment to be able to commit to her.

“But I do feel like they do have a connection, and I think a lot of that was down to Zoe’s looking for her son that she gave up for adoption and that Max helps her financially to pay for the PI to help look for her.”

He added: “I think he really sort of felt empathy towards her in what she was trying to do and supported her at that time.

Michelle Ryan on the set of EastEnders.
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Max and Zoe’s returns are now confirmed as being connectedCredit: PA
“So I think her relationship was genuine, I think there were real feelings between them, so yeah, where it goes in the future, I don’t know.

“But for me, it just felt there was a connection, a real connection between them.”

Jake will return later this year