EastEnders Ben Mitchell actor's rocky romances, Love Island fling, co-star split

08 August 2023 , 17:30

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Max Bowden has been playing Ben Mitchell in EastEnders for four years

Ben Mitchell has been a main character on EastEnders since 1996, with six different actors playing the role over the years. The current star is Max Bowden, who has been in the role since 2019.

Since taking up the mantel as Walford's bad boy, the 28-year-old has been involved with some pretty dramatic scenes including blackmailing Martin Fowler and trying to kill his own dad.

Off-screen, Max's life is much calmer than Ben's, although the actor has had a rather eventful love life, including a romance with a co-star, a reported fling with a Love Island star and a baby with his ex.

Max's son was born in September 2022 (Max Bowden/Instagram)

He and ex Roisin Buckle are co-parenting the little boy (one_mum_and_a_baby/Instagram)

From May 2021 to early 2022, Max dated insurance executive Roisin Buckle. Sadly their relationship sadly didn't last, but just weeks after announcing their separation, the pair confirmed they were expecting a baby and vowed to raise the tot as co-parents. Reginald Buckle was born in September last year.

Max shared the news in a sweet post on Instagram, writing: "Greatest feeling in the world and a love like I've never felt. Will never get over the feeling of my son looking me in the eye for the first time. Well done to Roisin on being such a strong first-time Mum and taking to motherhood like a champ." Roisin has since launched a podcast about being a mum to her son Reggie, called One Mum And A Baby.

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness

Before Reginald was born, Max was seeing his soap co-star, Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney Dean. The duo went Instagram official in September 2022 after being spotted looking close in June on the red carpet at the Soap Awards, and again while holding hands on a romantic trip to a kebab van.

Max took over the role of Ben Mitchell in 2019 (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

They split after just six months, and Shona has since spoken to The Mirror about the end of their relationship, confirming they are still friends, despite calling their romance a 'risk'. Speaking at the British Soap Awards 2023, she said: "It's lovely to be here tonight because Max's mum's here and I haven't seen her for ages, I adore her. So it's lovely to catch up with her. We're actually better than ever. It's a friendship, we're in such a good place. You take a risk, and you do something and it doesn't work out, but that's life, you've got to take that risk."

And according to reports, Max also 'got close' with a Love Island star before she appeared on the reality show. A source told The Sun that Olivia Hawkins attended an EastEnders set party in the summer of 2022 after landing a role as an extra, and claimed the pair slipped away to his dressing room. Max had reportedly liked a sexy snap of her on social media several months prior, sparking a slew of flirty messages.

He previously dated his co-star Shona McGarty (INSTAGRAN)

And the actor reportedly was close with Olivia Hawkins when she was an extra on EastEnders (Ash Knotek/REX/Shutterstock)

A source told the publication: "It soon became clear Max was hitting on her. It was obvious they were more than just friends. They clearly fancied each other. During the party they sneaked off to spend some time alone together. They headed to his dressing room and were gone for a while. Max confided to a couple of other stars what had happened. It has been the talk of the set, particularly after it later emerged Olivia was going on Love Island."

Outside of his love life, Max has appeared in several rival soap operas. TV fans might recognise him from his days in Waterloo Road back in 2014 when he played Justin Fitzgerald, and two years after his stint there, he popped up as Kash Ryland in BBC medical drama Casualty.

As well as his talent for acting, Max is also said to be a skilled tap dancer and bagged the role of Billy Elliot in the hit stage musical when he was 16. The performer had previously starred in a stage version of Beauty and the Beast and also appeared in the Woking pantomime Peter Pan, alongside his onscreen dad Steve McFadden. Speaking about the experience, Max told The Mirror: "That wasn't the first time I’d worked with Steve! I'd played his son when I was nine in a pantomime in Woking. He didn't remember me! [The panto was] Peter Pan, he was Hook."

Courtney Pochin