EastEnders’ Shona McGarty opens up on split from Max Bowden and teases new romance

EASTENDERS actress Shona McGarty opened up on her split from Max Bowden.

The BBC soap star teased her new romance at the British Soap Awards as she reflected on her ex-love.

Shona, 31, and Max, 28, previously split after six months of dating after Max’s ex Roisin Buckle gave birth to a baby boy in September 2022.

But now the EastEnders actress confirmed that despite calling it quits, the pair are on good terms.

She told : “It’s lovely to be here tonight because Max’s mum’s here and I haven’t seen her for ages, I adore her.

“So it’s lovely to catch up with her. We’re actually better than ever. It’s a friendship, we’re such in a good place.

“You take a risk, and you do something and it doesn’t work out, but that’s life, you’ve got to take that risk.”

However, it seems she has moved on from her heartbreak with her co-star as she has said that she’s exploring new options.

Shona confirmed: “I’m speaking to someone at the moment but it’s very early days.”

Back in 2022, Max had a wild summer while he dated Albert Square regular Shona but, following a series of bust-ups, they cooled their romance.

Six months after they started dating, the duo decided it wasn’t going to work after Max became a dad for the first time with his ex girlfriend.

At the time of their split, a source told us: “There has been a lot going on in Max’s life and things were just getting too complicated with Shona being involved.

“Max will always have a lot of love and respect for Shona but it’s just not the right time.

“Everyone is trying to make things as least awkward as possible on set – luckily they don’t have many scenes together.”

A friend close to the couple added: “Max and Shona have never spoken on it publicly but as their close circle would know, they were never in an official relationship and remain close friends who decided not to pursue anything romantic a number of months ago.“