EastEnders viewers have cast their votes in their thousands, predicting that Chelsea Fox will be Max Branning's bride in the 2027 flash-forward storyline. The BBC One soap aired a New Year's Day episode showing Max (Jake Wood) marrying a mystery woman, with four official candidates presented: Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams), Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins), and Denise Fox (Diane Parish).
More than 4,500 fans voted on RadioTimes.com, placing Chelsea in first place despite the pair having no romantic history. However, Chelsea was shown to be attracted to Max in episodes leading up to New Year's Day, and she has previously been involved with his brother, Jack Branning (Scott Maslen). The episode also revealed that Chelsea's sister, Libby Fox (Belinda Owusu), was back in Walford on the wedding day.
In second place was Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), who is currently living in Brazil as actress Lacey Turner takes an indefinite break. Jake Wood previously described Stacey as Max's 'true love'. Linda Carter came third, followed by 'Someone else' – reflecting viewers who believe the bride is not among the obvious suspects.
Cindy Beale took fifth place, while Denise Fox narrowly beat Tanya Cross (Jo Joyner) to sixth, with Tanya in seventh. Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) placed eighth, and Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) – who shared a knowing glance with Max on New Year's Eve – came last.
Executive producer Ben Wadey hinted at future twists, saying: 'Take notice of the stuff that's not in that episode and the gaps in between, because there's probably a few clues there.' Fans will have to wait to see if Chelsea is indeed the bride, or if another surprise awaits.
