HAS MAX MET HIS MATCH? Comedy

Louisa Lytton on why she hopes her character will have the EastEnders playboy eating out of her hand

Most EastEnders viewers will expect Ruby Allen’s f ling with Max Branning to go the way of his past doomed relationships, but Louisa Lytton, who plays her, hopes she can be the one to finally tame the Walford wildman.

Four-times wed Max is a serial philanderer and his love life has been very volatile. But that doesn’t faze Louisa – in fact, she’s delighted about it! ‘I like that they’ve paired Ruby with someone with his reputation. I hope Ruby will be the first woman that out-Maxes Max,’ she says. ‘He’s treated women badly, but it might be good for him to be on the back foot.’

Ruby’s relationship with Max, played by Jake Wood, has not started on solid ground, as he appears to harbour secret feelings for his ex, Ruby’s best friend Stacey Fowler. Ruby and Max got together last week when he helped the millionaire businesswoman with her accounts. ‘They quickly went from tax return to bed,’ laughs Louisa, 30. ‘Max likes that she’s successful and has money.

‘Max is someone she’s known in the past but never looked at before. But Ruby hasn’t been in Walford for years so she doesn’t know his history or the extent of his past with Stacey.’

Many will remember Christmas Day 2007 when the affair between then-married Max and Stacey, who was married to his son Bradley, was brutally exposed. The pair have had liaisons since, and last week Max turned to Stacey when she realised he’d been self-harming again.

While nothing happened, Stacey is jealous of Ruby getting close to Max, which has led her husband Martin to worry another affair is on the cards.

The situation comes to a head this week when Ruby invites Stacey and a reluctant Martin on a double date.

‘Ruby can tell there’s tension,’ says Louisa. ‘She figures if there’s anything to know then she’s going to find out when they’re all together!’

At the restaurant, the atmosphere will turn sour as Stacey struggles to remain civil, and Ruby confronts her over why she’s acting so oddly. ‘It’ll be explosive,’ teases Louisa.

Whatever happens, Louisa has high hopes for her character. ‘I’d like Ruby to end up with Max,’ she says.

‘It wouldn’t be peaceful, but no one wants a quiet life on a soap!’

Londoner Louisa has been busy since she returned to EastEnders last September after 12 years. Ruby was thrown into a sexual consent storyline, which Louisa says had a ‘huge impact’, with women who’d been through similar experiences telling her it had given them confidence to go to the police. Louisa also recently got engaged to her boyfriend, Ben Bhanvra, and they’ll marry next year. ‘Life’s pretty great,’ she says.