EastEnders' Max Branning will return to Walford early next month.

Jake Wood

Jake Wood

The BBC One soap have confirmed Jake Wood's hard-man alter-ego - who hasn't been seen on screen since February - will be back in Albert Square in the week commencing May 6th.

According to early episode guidelines, Max will have to "try to put things right" with wife Rainie Branning (Tanya Franks) in an episode on Thursday May 9th, but things don't appear to go well for the pair as the next day "all hell breaks loose" for the unconventional couple.

Jake has been away from 'EastEnders' after taking a scheduled break to go on tour with his boxing podcast 'Pound for Pound', which he hosts alongside former pro fighter Spencer Oliver.

As well as the podcast tour, the 46-year-old star has also been busy training for Sunday's (28.04.19) London Marathon, which he is running as part of the team Barbara's Revolutionaries, for his former 'EastEnders' co-star Dame Barbara Windsor, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014.

The team is also made up of Walford regulars Tanya, Natalie Cassidy (Sonia Fowler), and Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), and Barbara's husband Scott Mitchell, and they are taking on the challenge in aid of the Dementia Revolution campaign from Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK.

Speaking on 'The One Show' last night (25.04.19), Jake said: "I think this week is rest week.

"But what is really remarkable is Scott has never run before."

Scott added: "I've never been a runner. I started this kind of running in mid-October and I ran a mile and I stopped, feeling really sick and huffing and puffing and said, 'I can't do this. Why on earth did I say I could do this?'

"My last long run was 18 miles."

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