Zoe and Max EastEnders history: How are they linked and what happened between them?

Zoe Slater and Max Branning on EastEnders appear to be linked to each other after a twist on Wednesday, but how do they know each other?

It's the question everyone is asking after the latest episode, not released early on BBC iPlayer, revealed Zoe's past. We had no idea until now want went on for Kat Moon's daughter in the 20 years she was away from Walford.

Buta flashback to 2006 revealed some of those secrets on Wednesday, before the end of the episode dealt viewers with a massive twist. Zoe was revealed to be the person shot after Jack Branning and Ravi Gulati accidentally fired a gun during a fight.

As Zoe fought for her life, her ex Anthony Trueman was on hand to try and save her before she was rushed to hospital. With Zoe in and out of consciousness, she left her mum concerned with comments about what she was hiding, and who was seemingly out to get her.

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But amid the flashbacks it was the very end of the episode that showed Max Branning onscreen, marking his comeback. Jake Wood was revealed to be reprising his role earlier this year, with it thought he will be back briefly before a full-time return later in the year.

In an unexpected twist, Kat was seen answering Zoe's phone at the hospital as someone tried to make contact with her. Seemingly unaware that Zoe was now in surgery fighting or her life, someone rang her phone and Kat had some stern words.

Answering the phone and hearing nothing from the caller, she assumed they were the person that shot Zoe and she issued a warning. But in a major bombshell the camera panned to the person on the other end of the line, and it was Max.

So why was Max calling Zoe, and how are they linked? Is Max after Zoe, or is he calling for another reason? More on this will be revealed in later episodes but for now, let's establish the characters' histories in Walford and how they are linked.

We know that Max is linked to the Slaters via Zoe's cousin Stacey Slater. Stacey was married to Max's son Bradley who died in 2010, while Stacey had had two affairs with Max over the years.

Max didn't debut on the BBC soap until 2006, which is interesting given Zoe had already left Walford by then. Zoe left in 2005 so her and Max supposedly never met.

She wasn't there when it all kicked off between Max and the Slaters, and Zoe and Max never even shared a scene together. So what has led to the pair crossing paths to the point they are still in contact now?

Max has been AWOL ever since he fled Walford in 2021. So is it in these past few years that the pair have connected, or have they been linked for years? As it stands they have no onscreen history, only that the families are linked.

No scenes together, nothing to suggest they know each other personally. So something has definitely happened during those offscreen years that ties Max and Zoe together with a link confirmed, while the context of that link is being kept under wraps.

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , and Threads.