EastEnders stars Shona McGarty and Max Bowden hold hands during romantic trip to kebab van

EASTENDERS stars Shona McGarty and Max Bowden hold hands after popping out to a kebab van.

We revealed last week that the pair, who play Whitney Dean and Ben Mitchell, had “grown close” after he split from his pregnant girlfriend this year.

They denied they are “officially dating”.

But an onlooker who saw Shona, 30, and Max, 27, at the Hertfordshire takeaway said: “They looked very much like a couple.”

Max’s ex-lover, insurance exec Roisin Buckle, revealed last month they were having a baby boy. The couple vowed to raise the child together, despite their split.

Shona is single after splitting from electrician fiancé Ryan Harris in January.

Max joined the BBC soap in 2019 after playing Kash Ryland in BBC drama Casualty and was in the Beeb’s Waterloo Road for two years as Justin Fitzgerald.

He became the sixth actor to play Phil Mitchell’s son and won Best Bad Boy at the 2019 Inside Soap Awards.