EastEnders’ fans will be be left on the edge of their seats in upcoming scenes as Linda is finally forced to decide whether she will run away with lover Max Branning.
Spoilers for the upcoming New Year’s Day episode shows the affair between Max (Jake Wood) and Linda (Kellie Bright) taking centre stage in explosive scenes.
After begging Linda to run away with him, Max asks Linda to meet him on the Millennium Bridge for one last look at London before they jet off to New Zealand together.
Ultimatum: Spoilers for the upcoming New Year’s Day episode shows the affair between Max (Jake Wood) and Linda (Kellie Bright) taking centre stage in explosive scenes
But Max is left anxiously waiting on the bridge to find out if Linda will show up and leave Walford with him, or if she will stay with her husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer).
The ultimatum comes after Max first begged Linda to run away with him during the EastEnders’ Christmas Eve episode, before heading off to tell Mick of their plan.
Previously speaking about the explosive episode, actress Kellie Bright, who plays Linda, discusses her character’s shock at seeing the two men in her life come face-to-face, as she states Linda ‘can’t quite believe it’s happened’.
With husband Mick battling his inner trauma following the return of abuser Katy Lewis and subsequently shutting his wife out, Linda had been growing even closer to pal Max.
Will she show up? After begging Linda to run away with him, Max asks Linda to meet him on the Millennium Bridge for one last look at London before they jet off to New Zealand together
But after being rejected once again by Mick, Linda turned to Max and the two ended up sharing a night of passion last week.
Talking of Linda’s guilt after sleeping with Max, Kellie explains: ‘I don’t know whether she regrets it, but she can’t quite believe it’s happened. I think she feels immediately guilty and shameful about it.
‘In the moment she wanted it, 100%. It’s more the fact that she can’t quite believe what’s happening to her life. I think she thinks – how am I here?
‘How has this happened? How am I waking up in another mans bed? How has this happened to me?’
Tension: Pictures show Max waiting on the bridge to see if Linda will show up and leave Walford with him, or if she will decide to stay with her husband Mick Carter (Danny Dyer)
Uh oh! The ultimatum comes after Max first begged Linda to run away with him during the EastEnders’ Christmas Eve episode, before heading off to tell Mick of their plan
With Max taking it upon himself to confront Mick, Linda is set to be both livid with Max for making the decision, while being equally angry at Mick for not fighting for their marriage.
Opening up about Linda’s reaction to the shocking turn of events, Kellie said: ‘She is furious with Max, but she is equally as furious with Mick for not doing anything, for not reacting.
‘All she needs is for him to just do something, even if he calls her all the names under the sun. He’s not even doing that.
‘She feels angry, but I don’t think she wanted to have that conversation.
‘It’s all a bit of a rollercoaster for Linda. She wants to put the brakes on but she doesn’t know how.’
Fury: With Max confronting Mick, Linda is set to be both livid with Max for making the decision, while being equally angry at Mick for not fighting for their marriage
Discussing Max’s plan to leave Walford, she exclaimed: ‘I think she thinks it’s madness by that point. Plus she is getting increasingly worried about Mick’s state.
‘Not even about her and Mick, but just in himself, I think she is getting very concerned about what is going on for him and she wants to help him.
‘Even if Mick hates her, she wants to help him. So she’s very torn at this point.’
With Linda completely torn over the drama between Mick and Linda, Kellie hints that Linda almost ‘relieved’ at being confronted by mother-in-law Shirley, as she needed a wake-up call from someone.
‘She is definitely a woman that would care what other people think of her for sure’, she explained.
Shock: Actress Kellie Bright, who plays Linda, discusses her character’s shock at seeing the two men in her life come face-to-face, saying Linda ‘can’t quite believe it’s happened’
‘I think in some ways when Shirley confronts her she has been waiting for someone to say those things and I think in a way she is quietly relieved, it’s what she believes about herself anyway.’
On whether she feels Linda and Mick’s already rocky marriage could survive this latest blow, she added: ‘I think because of the breakdown of communication, and such deep trauma in Mick that has completely changed him as a human being, and for Linda she has betrayed the man she loves. Those things are massive.’
And the explosive affair continues to cause tension as Linda has to to make up her mind between the two men in her life during the upcoming New Year’s Day episode.
But will Linda turn up on the bridge and flee Walford with Max? Or will she and Mick manage to salvage their relationship after her betrayal?
The tense episode airs on Friday January 1 at 8.00pm on BBC One.