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EastEnders airs temptation for Max Branning after disastrous Cindy Beale proposal in early BBC iPlayer release

Warning: Contains spoilers for Wednesday's episode of EastEnders, which airs at 7.30pm on BBC One or can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.

Max Branning and Cindy Beale in EastEnders, with a silhouette of Priya Nandra-Hart between them

BBC/Radio Times

Published: Wednesday, 3 June 2026 at 6:30 am

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You should never upstage a bride and groom at their wedding - and it's safe to say that Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) was thoroughly unimpressed by Max Branning's (Jake Wood) proposal at her wedding to Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw).

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The EastEnders love rat decided that, with everyone looking down their noses on his relationship to Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), he should propose and prove his commitment.

It's safe to say that Cindy was stunned. They've only been together for a matter of weeks, and she wasn't ready to tie the knot.

The Walford community crowded around Max to reprimand him, and he tried to assure them that it was just a joke and he didn't mean it. Cindy was deeply offended when she realised that the ring he'd used to propose with had been found on a table, and rushed off to rejoin the party.

Elaine Peacock (Harriet Thorpe) tried to reassure her that single life would be ok, but Cindy asserted that they were still together and would have to try and repair things.

Max Branning, on one knee, holding a ring in a box and a microphone in a scene from EastEnders

Jake Wood as Max Branning and Michelle Collins as Cindy Beale in EastEnders. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

Meanwhile, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) approached Max to see if he was ok. She said that the brazen way he spoke about Cindy during his failed attempt to pop the question was unacceptable, and it was no wonder that she'd rejected him.

Down on his luck, he offered to walk her home.

However, dear reader, it wasn't Linda who tried to seduce Max!

At the other end of the marquee, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) was making a desperate attempt to lure Zack Hudson (James Farrar) into bed. Given his affair with Vicki had been exposed just hours earlier, he wasn't in the mood for hopping into someone else's bed.

Desperate for someone's attention after Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) ended things, she sat down and nursed a bottle of bubbly. Eve Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace) clocked that she looked upset and offered to dance, but Priya claimed that her wife Suki (Balvinder Sopal) would get jealous.

The couple laughed at the suggestion, and were gobsmacked when she tried to plant a kiss on Eve.

Priya and Eve take a selfie in EastEnders

Heather Peace as Eve Panesar-Unwin and Sophie Khan Levy as Priya Nandra-Hart in EastEnders. BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron

Later, Max sat alone in the car lot and was startled by the arrival of Priya. She was looking for more alcohol, and guided Max back to his house to get some.

The two chatted about their respective recent failures, and Priya made a bold attempt to tempt her boss.

Will he be able to resist temptation? Let's be real, this is Max Branning, so probably not.

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Authors

Michael Adams wearing a white t-shirt and beige gilet against a white background

Michael AdamsSoaps Editor

Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

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