EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders will publicly expose Max Branning and Cindy Beale’s fling next week as the two come face to face and realise each other’s identities. Following his physical fight with brother Jack on Christmas Day, Max headed to The Albert, where he ended up sharing a few drinks and a lot more with Cindy – though neither were aware who each other was.
The pair decided to keep their hook-up as a one time thing, with Max insisting they were too similar for anything more to happen between them. But the two will see each other again sooner than they think when they both attend Jimmy’s Christening – and Cindy realises she slept with the man who caused her son’s death.
As the Christening approaches, Lauren and Peter panic about Max and Cindy meeting for the first time. With that on their mind and due to Max’s behaviour at Christmas, they decide to uninvite him.
However, Max buys Jimmy a really thoughtful gift and appears visibly upset over the prospect of missing the special day, so Lauren has second thoughts and tells him he can come.
BBC
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But when Cindy discovers the latest development, she insists that she’s not going if Max will be there. At first it looks as if Cindy will get her wish, as Max finds himself uninvited once again when Jack drops a bombshell. What news will he share?
In typical Max fashion, he decides to just do whatever he wants and turns up at the Christening anyway.
The congregation is shocked as Max and Cindy cause a commotion and it’s revealed to all in attendance that the pair have slept together.
Back on the Square, Oscar attempts to be the voice of reason and gives his dad a pep talk, encouraging him to right his wrongs. But Max isn’t interested in his son’s advice and heads to Harry’s Barn to drown his sorrows.
BBC
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With Linda keen for Max to be a good role model to daughter Annie, she also attempts to help guide Max, but once again he isn’t interested and he snaps at Linda – upsetting her in the process.
Having witnessed the scene, Nicola delivers Max some home truths about his behaviour, and he heads out into the night in an attempt to right his wrongs.
These scenes air on Monday 29 December and Tuesday 30 December.
EastEnders airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. This week’s episode looks back at the most iconic Christmas storylines in soap history.
