EASTENDERS fans have been left discussing the fallout of Ben Mitchell’s exit after the character has been seemingly ‘forgotten’.
The Walford resident departed the show after actor Max Bowden was axed after troubling behaviour behind the scenes.
Since then, the writers have seldom mentioned his character after they attempted to airbrush him out of the show.
Ben was taken to the US where he was jailed on fraud charges.
Whilst a handful of fans have been left saddened by his exit, it seems that his Walford family couldn’t care less after they easily moved on with their lives.
BBC viewers have picked up on the fact that his husband Callum and daughter Lexi haven’t mentioned him being missing too much.
Rather then dwell on Ben not being around, they have instead focused on moving forward – barely giving him a second thought.
It has left a few fans furious that he hasn’t been mentioned any further and that his character has begun to fade from the soap’s memory for good.
Eagle-eyed fans were quick to comment on the impact on his family with one saying: “Callum isn’t very upset over Ben, I expected some heartfelt missing him emotion and sadness #EastEnders @bbceastenders even him taking time to compose and take it in.”
Another penned: “I feel like Callum has totally got over Ben & his sentencing. He seems way too normal for someone who has lost his husband to 6 years in prison on the other side of the world.”
Before another superfan took a more harsh approach as they added: “Why haven’t they shown Callum/Lexi dealing with their grief over losing Ben? we haven’t seen any aftermath for them at all. why does everything have to revolve around Jay? Lexi and Callum seem to exist only to advance his storylines nowadays and it’s p***ing me off.”
In December 2023, The Sun on Sunday exclusively revealed how Ben Mitchell star Max Bowden had been axed from EastEnders.
We revealed it came after the actor – who joined the soap in 2019 – had a showdown with bosses over his “party lifestyle”.
A TV insider said: “Max has played Ben for the last four years and bosses decided his time on the show was up.
“There has been a lot of noise around him for a bit too long and that can take away from the drama on the show.
“He went in for a meeting as his contract was up for renewal next year.
“No one knew how it was going to go and following discussions it was decided that he would leave.
“Bosses have yet to plan his exit storyline but Ben is not a character that they would kill off as we’ve already seen in all the previous recasts.”
