So I’m on my phone last night, doing my thing and scrolling through, when I come across this headline about Danielle Harold and Max Bowden. Do you remember Lola and Ben from EastEnders? It turns out they’d already been dating for YEARS in secret. Years! And nobody knew. Not the press, not the fans, nobody.
I’ve watched EastEnders since I was about fourteen. My nan got me into it, and now I’m properly hooked. But this news? Never saw it coming. Not even a hint.
How Did Nobody Figure This Out?
The thing that totally took me by surprise is that these two had worked together nearly every day. They filmed scenes with each other, attended cast parties, and gave interviews. Someone must’ve noticed something, surely? But no. The EastEnders co-stars’ secret romance stayed completely hidden until reports came out this February.
Now that’s a tall order, that is. I can’t even keep my birthday plans secret from my mates, and these two kept an entire relationship under wraps while working on one of the biggest shows on British telly.
My sister is in an office; she says it takes only five minutes for everyone to know each other’s business. Different boyfriend? They know. New haircut? They know. Have you had a row with your mum? Everyone knows. But miraculously, Danielle and Max kept this under wraps for years.
The Timeline Makes It Even Madder
Right, so Danielle played Lola from when she was really young. She left the show, came back, and then had that absolutely heartbreaking brain tumour storyline. I properly cried during those episodes.
My boyfriend thought I’d lost the plot because I was sobbing over a soap opera, but everyone who watched it was the same.
Max has been playing Ben Mitchell on and off since he was a kid, too. His character’s been through everything: prison, dodgy dealings, and a complicated love life. The works.
And apparently, whilst all this drama was happening on screen, they were together off-screen. Makes you watch those old episodes differently now, doesn’t it?
The Breakup Nobody Saw Coming Either
From what I’ve read, things went pear-shaped around February this year. People started noticing they’d unfollowed each other on Instagram, which is always a dead giveaway. That’s the modern breakup tell, isn’t it?
Forget relationship status changes; unfollowing someone is the real sign it’s over.
Neither of them has actually said anything publicly about being together or splitting up. Can’t blame them really. The minute they’d confirm anything, the tabloids would be all over it like a rash. Every photo, every comment, every social media post would get picked apart.
Why I Actually Get Why They Kept Quiet
Look, I’ve had mates who dated people from work. Sometimes it works out brilliantly; sometimes it’s a proper disaster. But at least when my mate Sarah dated that bloke from accounts, she didn’t have the entire country watching them.
Imagine trying to keep your relationship private when you’re filming a soap opera watched by millions. Every scene you do together, people are looking for clues.
Every interview, someone’s trying to catch you out. Sounds exhausting, frankly.
Plus, Max already had complicated stuff going on. He’d been with Roisin Buckle, and they had a baby together in 2022. He’d also dated Shona McGarty from the show before. So his personal life was already a bit messy, wasn’t it?
Adding another relationship with a co-star into the mix probably seemed like asking for trouble.
What Fans Are Saying
I’ve been reading comments online, and people are properly divided. Some reckon the EastEnders co-stars’ secret romance is sweet and they should’ve been left alone to be happy. Others feel a bit weird about it, like they were lied to or something.
Personally? I don’t think they owe us anything. Yeah, they’re on telly, but that doesn’t mean we get to know every detail of their private lives. We already get the drama from the show; that should be enough.
My mum’s furious about it, though. She reckons if you’re a public figure, you give up the right to privacy. But that’s rubbish, isn’t it? Just because someone’s on EastEnders doesn’t mean we own them.
The Awkward Work Situation
Both of them have left the show now. Danielle’s character died in that emotional storyline that had everyone bawling their eyes out. Max left too, though Ben’s still alive, so he could always come back.
Wonder if the relationship ending had anything to do with them leaving? Or maybe leaving the show made the relationship harder? We’ll probably never know, and that’s fine.
I split up with my ex partly because we worked together, and it was doing my head in. Couldn’t get any space from him. So I can imagine how much harder it must be when your workplace is a famous television set and everyone’s watching.
My Take On All This
Honestly, good on them for keeping it private as long as they did. In a world where everyone shares everything online, having something just for yourself is quite nice.
Were they actually in love? Was it serious? Was it just a bit of fun that lasted longer than expected? We don’t know, and we don’t need to know. What we do know is they both did brilliant work on EastEnders, and that’s what matters to viewers like me.
I’ll still watch their old episodes. I’ll still cry at Lola’s death scene because it was genuinely heartbreaking. And if they’re both happy now doing whatever they’re doing, then that’s lovely.
The whole thing just reminds you that actors are real people with real lives and real feelings. They’re not just the characters we see on screen. Sometimes they fall for each other, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Just like the rest of us, really.
Except we don’t have millions of people speculating about our relationships on Twitter. Thank god for that.
