AN EASTENDERS legend is set to tie the knot for the fifth time during the BBC soap’s unique New Year episode.

Show bosses have revealed the 30-minute January 1 instalment will flash-forward an entire year as part of a huge new storyline.

In a tried and tested method, when EastEnders‘ The Six flash-forward scenes previously left viewers gripped to the action in 2023, the special scenes will now centre on lothario Max Branning’s life.

Soap bosses have claimed the episode – which captures New Year’s Day in 2027 – will “offer viewers a unique glimpse into the drama that is set to unfold in 2026 and beyond.”

And now they have disclosed how Jake Wood‘s character, who only returned to Albert Square earlier this year, will be at the centre of a wedding plotline.

After an image was released showing Max in a suit adorned with a white flower – as well as blood smattered on the fabric – it appears the bad lad is set for his fifth I Do.

The character has already headed down the aisle with Rachel Branning, mother of his eldest son Bradley and Tanya, parent to his kids Lauren, Abi and Oscar.

It wasn’t third time lucky for the businessman who secretly married Kirsty in nuptials revealed in 2012, before he got hitched to Rainie Cross in another marriage of convenience.

Yet will this time be any different?

Showrunner Ben Wadey has revealed: “Going into New Year, Max promises that he is a reformed character, but is he going to be able to hold that up over the year?

“Flash forward a year, and [we see] the chaos that ensues and everything that he’s got up to – with him getting married, and there’s a woman in the bed next to him, who was clearly pregnant when he wakes up.

“So there is a whole heap of chaos. So we wanted to promise all of that.”

In a teaser of plots to come he added: “One of the writers said, ‘the thing is, for Max, life is like one big game of kiss, marry, kill’.

“And we all kind of went, ‘it is, isn’t it?’ And that set out this idea, set something running for us that we got really excited about.

“And I wanted to see what Max’s return could look like in terms of his relationship with his kids. Did he want to change? And could he change? Could he be a better dad?

“Is he always going to be the womaniser that he was before, or is he redeemed?”

Previously, Ben told soap fans: “For the first time in the show’s history, we’re going to be offering our viewers an entire flashforward episode set on New Year’s Day 2027.

“2026 is going to be full of drama in Walford, especially for the Brannings, and the episode is sure to raise plenty of questions on how Max has got himself, and his family, into such predicaments, but all is not what it seems, so stay tuned for 2026 to find out how and why…”

It came after actor Jake broke his silence on his bombshell soap return back in July.

His comeback came just four years after he quit the soap and he said: “I’m over the moon to be coming home to Walford.

“Max has got lots of unresolved drama with many characters, so I’m sure he’ll be busy.

“I’m excited to see what he’s been up to, and what is next for the character, but if his last 15 years in the Square are anything to go by, I’m sure there will be plenty of chaos.”

His return plotline then centred on his secret romance with Zoe Slater.

TIME JUMPS

The show previously used a flashforward to launch The Six storyline that gave viewers a hint about Christmas in February.

That ended up seeing Keanu Taylor murdered by Linda Carter and covered up with the other women’s help.

In 2020 Hollyoaks did a flashforward episode on New Year’s Day – for an entire year.

However they were upended when midway through the years an actor had to be axed and then recast and the covid pandemic caused chaos to filming and production schedules.