EastEnders has officially confirmed former stars Max Bowden and Ricky Champ will reprise their soap roles in the same storyline later this year.
The actors will head back to the show as Ben Mitchell and Stuart Highway, albeit for a brief period.
While the full details of their returning storyline haven’t been revealed, we now know that they will head back to Walford later this Autumn for the funeral of Jonno, the father of Stuart and Callum Highway (Tony Clay).
The two characters will be back alongside Callum and also Johnny Carter (Charlie Suff).
With Callum having recently cheated with Johnny, and with those feelings expected to grow, Ben may not be revisiting the happy family he left behind.
Ben will be on day release from prison in America, while Stuart will only visit due to having a life away from Albert Square with Rainie (Tanya Franks).
You’d think that things would be all smooth sailing given it will only be a temporary return, but an awful lot can happen in a short amount of time where Walford is concerned.
Max and Ricky are currently filming, and will appear in a handful of episodes later this year.
Ben departed life in Albert Square in 2024. He was arrested for fraud and sent to prison in the USA.
It came shortly after the death of Lola Pearce (Danielle Harold), the mother of Ben’s daughter Lexi (Isabella Brown).
Ben went to prison because he was arrested for stealing someone’s credit card, and making a number of purchases while exploring treatment options for Lola – who had a brain tumour – in the States.
Ben has been in prison since 2024
Ben and Callum vowed to make their relationship work while he was behind bars, but things have gotten somewhat complicated.
Callum and Johnny shared a surprise kiss during the Pride event at The Albert, which effectively ended Johnny’s romance with recently departed Felix Baker (Matthew James Morrison).
The guilt didn’t stop Callum going back for more, but their secret affair was soon uncovered by Ben’s furious father Phil (Steve McFadden), who violently attacked Johnny.
Since then, the pair have cooled things off, with Callum insisting he is committed to waiting for Ben.
Despite this, they’ve not really been able to keep their hands off each other.
Stuart got his happy ending with Rainie in 2022. The two characters departed to start life again elsewhere.
When Stuart was introduced in 2018, he often expressed his violent and dark side. The character revealed that he had been sexually abused as a child, explaining why he would often hunt down paedophiles and have them arrested.
Stuart was also seen terrorising the Carter family. One storyline in particular saw him shoot himself in the leg, but framed Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) so he could go to prison.
In a two-hander episode, Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) pretended to get close to Stuart, just so she could get him to admit that Mick never shot him.
When Mick was released, he tried to scare Stuart out of Walford, but he went to live with Dot Branning (June Brown).
Shortly after this and the death of Dot’s friend Doctor Legg, Stuart tried to rebuild his life. This eventually led to him starting a relationship with Rainie but this had many ups and downs as well, as Stuart faced a cancer diagnosis, as well as battled male PND.
Richard Graham portrayed Stuart and Callum’s father Jonno for a short period in 2019.
He was first introduced to us when Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), Callum’s fiancé at the time, contacted him. It was then revealed that Jonno wasn’t a good father to Callum and Stuart as they grew up, and that he would often subject Stuart to violence.
At the time, he tried to tell his sons that he was a changed man, but his true colours were revealed when he had a fight with Ben after making it clear he was homophobic, and then pinned Callum up against a wall.Jonno was thrown out of Walford but returned two months later, curious as to how Callum’s wedding went, unaware that it never happened. Callum came out as gay to his dad, and a disgusted Jonno accused Ben of turning his son ‘into one of them’.
Jonno was punched by Phil after this, and he threatened to go to the police. The punters in the Queen Vic, including Whitney, all decided to deny seeing Phil attack Jonno.
He then left, disowning Callum as he departed.
