EastEnders hit back at fans who claim show ‘forgot’ Ben Mitchell is deaf as actor Max Bowden shows off his character’s hearing aids

EASTENDERS have hit back at claims they “forgot” Ben Mitchell is deaf as actor Max Bowden proved that his character still wears a hearing aid. The BBC One soap has come under scrutiny ever since Max, 24, first appeared in the BBC One soap earlier this year. The character is the son of Kathy Beale […]

EASTENDERS have hit back at claims they “forgot” Ben Mitchell is deaf as actor Max Bowden proved that his character still wears a hearing aid.

The BBC One soap has come under scrutiny ever since Max, 24, first appeared in the BBC One soap earlier this year.

The character is the son of Kathy Beale and Phil Mitchell and was born on the show in March 1996 – a huge storyline at the time saw that he was diagnosed with meningitis soon after being born, leaving him deaf in one ear.

Wearing a hearing aid has been a huge part of Ben’s character ever since, and fans were stunned when Max made his debut seemingly without one last month.

However, the BBC have now shown fans that the aid has been there this entire time, sharing a video of the young actor showing it off to their Twitter page.

In the clip, Max says: “I just wanted to clear something up for everybody, I know there’s been a lot of confusion over this on Twitter and Instagram.

“A lot of people have been asking about Ben’s hearing aid and I just want to show you guys that he is in fact still wearing one.

“This is the little genius piece here, it goes in just like this. It’s very small, it’s a lot smaller than the one he previously used to wear but it is still there.

“So Ben Mitchell is still Ben Mitchell, he still wears his hearing aid, he’s just moving with the times and everything’s a little bit smaller.”

EastEnders captioned the video: “You asked, we listened, and Max Bowden has the answer.

BBC

“It’s time to end this once and for all – Ben Mitchell IS still wearing a hearing aid.”

Max is the sixth actor to play the role of Walford bad boy Ben after joining the soap earlier this year.

Most recently, Ben was portrayed by fan-favourite Harry Reid between 2014 and 2018.

The actor has received a mixed response from loyal fans of the soap, with some previously criticising his cockney accent – calling him a “bad Michael Caine impersonator”.

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