24 December 2023 , 09:18
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EastEnders star Max Bowden was involved in a road traffic accident on Friday - but walked away from his damaged car.
The 28-year-old soap actor - who has played Ben Mitchell on the BBC show since 2019 - was in one of three cars that collided in the town of Sunbury-on-Thames, in Surrey. The reported incident took place on Friday just after 1pm and left Max’s Mercedes car badly damaged.
Photographs from the scene have shown Max walking away from his car - with the front of the Mercedes seriously smashed up, with its bumper torn off, and the bonnet a crumpled mess. Max himself, who was dressed down in casual sportswear, was snapped typing on his phone as he was walking away.
The photographs emerged as a police spokesperson revealed details of the incident - and confirmed that no injuries were sustained by the accident. It is also reported that no one was arrested following the incident either.
Max has played Ben Mitchell on EastEnders since 2019 (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)The cause of the accident is unclear, and it is also unclear how many other people were involved in the incident. A Surrey Police spokesperson told the Mirror: “We were called to a collision involving three vehicles in Sunbury-on-Thames on Friday.
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“The collision occurred around 1.10pm just off the Sunbury Cross roundabout and involved a red Mazda, a black Mercedes and a grey Kia. There were no injuries or arrests resulting from the incident.”
The Sun also published the images from the incident showing Max’s car bashed up on a street in the town. His black car looked severely crumpled - while the actor himself looked tense in images, with his head down, and his focus on his mobile phone. The Sun’s report suggests the actor was shaken by the incident.
An onlooker told the publication: “We just saw this car was absolutely demolished and then my girlfriend said, ‘Is that Ben Mitchell?’. He looked pretty stunned by the whole thing.”
Max took over the role of playing Ben from fellow actor Harry Reid, who played the character from 2014 until 2018. In September, Max scooped the Soap Superstar award for his acting at the Inside Soap Awards.
The star was touched by the honour, and took to social media to express his thanks to fans who had voted for him to win. He wrote via Instagram at the time: “I am so totally grateful to everyone who voted for us at the Inside Soap Awards last night. And am so thankful for voting for me as 'Soap Superstar' !?! You lot are mental!"
The awards were a successful night for EastEnders as Danielle Harold and Jamie Borthwick also won on the night scooping the best actress and best actor gong respectively. Max thanked them both in his note, saying: “To win as a three last night was so special and filled my heart with such love.”