EASTENDERS' Ben Mitchell will be left a "shell of himself" after his traumatic rape ordeal, actor Max Bowden has revealed.
Viewers watched last night as Ben was raped by Albert bar manager Lewis Butler.
The horrifying scenes left fans in tears – and now actor Max has previewed what is to come in the harrowing storyline.
Actor Max told The Sun and other media: "As with any essence of trauma, there's a massive element of confusion – confusion around what happened the night before, confusion about whether it's his fault, confusion about what's happening to his marriage and to his life.
“There's an element of loneliness.
"It takes him a while to realise that he is a victim.
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“He's Ben Mitchell; a man who comes from a great stature of family and a proud family and he finds himself a victim of rape.
“That for anybody is an impossible situation to get your head around, but for somebody who's as proud and outgoing and as male bravado-driven as Ben Mitchell, it's really, really tough.
"He becomes a complete shell of himself, he's utterly confused and a bit lost.
“It's like shellshock – has this happened and why has this happened? It’s fight or flight for what comes next."
Max also hinted that his mum Kathy – who was also raped in the building in the 80s – will begin to realise something is wrong with her son’s state of mind.
He added: “The initial impact of trauma is that element of shock, confusion, fear and loneliness.
“Ben can generally be quite an insular person and he is very good at masking things. We discussed the idea of the mask on / mask off situation; the moments of internal thought when he's on his own and the moments of external when he's with other people. But we do start to see the mask falling.
"It becomes more and more apparent that something's not right.
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“With Kathy, there's obviously that commonality and the fact that she was raped by Wilmott-Brown.
“There's also a brotherhood with Jay, who can see through the mask as well. The people who know him best starting to see something's not quite right."
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