EastEnders actor Max Bowden has opened up about whether he believes that character Ben Mitchell and Callum Highway will reunite.

Ben will sacrifice his relationship to help his dad Phil get his revenge on Sharon Mitchell after discovering that she had a secret lover behind his back.

Last night, viewers watched as Ben had his hands tied when alcoholic Phil threatened to kill himself by downing a bottle of vodka if he didn't kill Sharon's baby daddy.

Speaking at the BBC soap's Christmas press day recently, Max said: "The pressure of his relationship with his dad that he's lacked for so long… it's having that pressure on him to do right by his family rather than his relationship, and to make that choice is something Ben has found incredibly difficult but the Mitchells stick together, they're family."

Max agreed that Ben often tried to be like his dad and has the impulse to fly off the handle.


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"I think for any of the Mitchells, once they are crossed they've got the will power and the ability to do anything out of impulse," Max said. "The more Ben has tried to be like his father, any of the Mitchells in the right moment have got that impulse to fly off the handle as we've scene."

Boss Kate Oates added: "He also does it out of protectiveness for his father, Phil is actually pained and hurt by the betrayal. Steve [McFadden, who plays Phil] plays it brilliantly, you see his pain.

"When he talks to Ben he's going crazy .. it's like, 'If I don't exercise this anger through the person who's crossed me, I'm gonna find myself at the end of a bottle , or turn back to drugs', he's losing his mind.

"Ben's almost the parent in the situation and he's got to protect his father and so that means sacrificing Callum. He's chosen his family to protect Callum along the way."

Max confessed that he was keen for Ben and Callum to reunite but warned that his character would never go on the straight and narrow.

"I hope so as i said the most fundamental thing in Ben's life is to get to that level playing field with Phil and for any reason it doesn't matter," Max said. "Ben can't go straight because it is in his nature and as much as he tries or wants to it's embedded within him, and it's about his own acceptance of who he is.

"I'd like to see them back together but we'll have to wait and see."

*EastEnders airs tonight at 8pm on BBC One

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