JACQUELINE Jossa and Piers Morgan have lead the tributes to Jake Wood as he bowed out of EastEnders as Max Branning after 15 years.
The 48-year-old actor walked out of Albert Square as Max on Friday night after he was turned on by ex Linda Carter, his brother Jack and even Phil Mitchell, who got the upper hand on his blackmail attempt.
At the last minute, Max decided he couldn’t take his little granddaughter Abi with him, and tearfully watched as she was taken in by Rainie and Stuart instead.
After his final scenes aired, Jacqueline Jossa – who played his on-screen daughter Lauren Branning – paid tribute to Jake, writing on Instagram: “To the only other guy I call dad.
“Thank you for everything. I learnt all I know from you and had the best time playing your daughter. Goodbye for now max.
“I cannot wait to see what is in store for you next, and hope one day we will work together again. You are a legend @mrjakewood.”
View this post on Instagram
Jake replied: “Love ya Jac fake daughter as your fake dad can I just say I’m so proud of the young woman you have become.”
Fellow EastEnders co-star Shona McGarty, who plays Whitney Dean, tweeted: “Absolutely fantastic actor @mrjakedwood can’t wait to see what you do next. X Absolute joy to work with. You’ll be truly missed.”
Meanwhile Lacey Turner, who plays Max’s ex-love Stacey Fowler, shared a screenshot of their final scene together from tonight’s episode and captioned it with a broken heart gif.
As well as his co-stars, Jake also received messages from celebrities including Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, who tweeted: “One of the all-time great soap characters, and actors. Congrats
@mrjakedwood. what a run..”
Jake also shared a collage of comments from fans saying how sad they were about him leaving the soap.
He wrote across it: “Been a huge part of my life for the last 15 years but now we move onwards…
“Thanks for all your messages, appreciate all of your support.”
