BBC EastEnders star Max Bowden exited his role as Ben Mitchell 6 months ago but he is already teasing a potential return to the role he played for 5 years, during a recent appearance on Good Morning Britain.
Bowden was on the show to promote his new stage role, but revealed that he would entertain a return to EastEnders if the storyline allowed for it.
“Never say never!” Bowden teased when discussing a return to the BBC soap (h/t the Mirror).” I had a really amazing five years. I have so much gratitude for the show and I have several friends that I keep in contact with. I would never rule it out!”
“The important thing was my time was ready. I was very tired, and like I said, I wasn’t me, I wasn’t. The Max sat in front of you today was kind of a ghost, and they recognised that – I recognised that,” Bowden said.
“I did nearly six hundred episodes in five years, which is a hell of a lot, and it was time for a rest. The character was tired, I was tired, they [the producers] were probably tired of me being tired. From an honest perspective, I think yeah, a lot of it was that I needed to go for a bit. I needed to go work on me, get myself back to a place of really good mental health, focus on healing and also be a dad.”
Bowden discussed the storyline he was involved in prior to his exit, where Lola Pearce was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“It laid a lot out on the table, and it exposed me to a lot of vulnerability which probably at the time I didn’t navigate well,” he said, “It was a tough old time, but you know what, I’m a lot stronger for it. That was definitely the hardest period of my professional life.”
Bowden also talked about how personal the story was to him and how hard it was to play that role.
“This storyline has been the hardest I have ever had to deal with. 21 months ago I lost my best friend in the world to an undiagnosed brain tumour. Friday afternoon we were on the phone for an hour discussing Ronaldo’s United return, 24 hours later he went into a coma and never woke up. Coming to terms with this grief has been the most turbulent, overwhelming, impossible thing I have ever had to overcome, and telling this story with Lola has been a tough old ride but an incredibly rewarding one.”
