Max Bowden is to leave his role as Ben Mitchell on EastEnders in the coming months, the BBC has confirmed.
In 2019 the 29-year-old became the sixth actor to play the character - the son of Phil (Steve McFadden) and Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) - and has been subject of some major storylines since, including a drugs overdose, male rape, an eating disorder and his marriage to Callum (Tony Clay).
According to a report in The Sun, Bowden recently held a meeting with EastEnders producers in which it was decided that his current contract will not be renewed when it expires in March.
A source told the newspaper: "Max has played Ben for the last four years and bosses decided his time on the show was up. There has been a lot of noise around him for a bit too long and that can take away from the drama on the show.
"He went in for a meeting as his contract was up for renewal... No-one knew how it was going to go and following discussions it was decided that he would leave.
"Bosses have yet to plan his exit storyline but Ben is not a character that they would kill off as we've already seen in all the previous recasts."
A soap spokesperson confirmed: "Max will be leaving EastEnders [this] year. We wish him all the best for the future."
Bowden's departure will follow that of Karen (Lorraine Stanley), Keanu (Danny Walters), Mitch (Roger Griffiths) and Rocky (Brian Conley) in recent weeks, as well as the upcoming exit of Whitney (Shona McGarty).
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