EastEnders love rat Max Branning seems to have stirred up more drama for his ex-wife Tanya Branning away from the Square.
EastEnders has shared an update on Tanya Branning after she failed to appear at her grandson’s christening.
During Monday’s episode (December 29), which is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer, the Beale and Branning families gathered to celebrate the christening of Jimmy Beale.
However, Peter Beale (Thomas Law) and his wife Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) clashed over the guest list, as they tried to prevent Cindy (Michelle Collins) and Max Branning (Jake Wood) from ending up in the same room.
They had initially agreed to uninvite Max because of his behaviour over Christmas and to avoid any further drama at the church. However, when he gave his grandson Jimmy a thoughtful gift, Lauren decided to reinvite him to the ceremony, much to Peter’s frustration.
The decision meant Cindy was unwelcome, as Peter had warned her to stay away from the church—until a revelation put Max back in the Brannings’ bad books.
In a surprise twist, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) phoned his former sister-in-law, Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner), to confirm her attendance at Jimmy’s special day, but she dropped a major bombshell.
It seems Tanya is staying home with her granddaughter, AJ, after Max neglected the child to enjoy a romantic evening with a mysterious woman.
Before Jack revealed the news to Lauren, Max told his brother, “Tanya hates me, alright. She’s trying to shut me out, isn’t she?”
Jack then confronted him: “You left your seven-year-old grandchild alone,” before revealing details of Max’s latest romantic escapade.
Lauren was left stunned as Max tried to defend himself, blaming AJ: “AJ’s lively, yeah, she runs off! That’s just lies anyway.”
Jack quickly interrupted: “Oh, so AJ didn’t go missing for a whole night?” as Max insisted the incident wasn’t his fault.
Max added: “I was looking after her, just five minutes, Jack, five minutes. I went to help a neighbour who had a spider in her hallway.
“All I do is look at another woman and Tanya assumes I’m sleeping with her. This could have happened to Tanya. AJ is wild, she gets into all sorts of mischief.”
Tanya has been absent from EastEnders since 2018, and it seems she won’t be returning to Walford anytime soon due to Max’s neglectful behaviour toward their granddaughter.
Tanya first arrived on Albert Square in 2006 with her family, including Max, Lauren, and Abi (Lorna Fitzgerald).
The Branning family quickly became fan favourites, involved in some of EastEnders’ most memorable storylines, including Max’s scandalous affair with Stacey (Lacey Turner), which culminated in a dramatic Christmas Day revelation.
Tanya departed Walford following the death of her daughter, Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald), who was pregnant when she fell from the roof of The Queen Vic.
Abi’s baby, AJ, is also the daughter of Steven Beale (Aaron Sidwell), who died before she was born, leaving Max, her grandfather, to take care of her.
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