Former EastEnders star Jake Wood gave Beat The Chasers viewers a shock after he appeared on the ITV game show with a big bushy beard.
The actor, 48, who played Max Branning in the BBC soap from 2006 until earlier this year, used to grow out some stubble as Max on the show but now he's proudly rocking a thick ginger beard for the cameras.
After walking onto the set for a celebrity special of Beat The Chasers on Saturday evening (29 May), Mark The Beast Labbett quickly spotted the new beard before calling it "hipster".
Mark's fellow Chaser Darragh 'The Menace' Ennis even admitted he was "jealous" of Jake's new locks on the knowledge-busting show.
Host Bradley Walsh weighed in on the beard chat too with a compliment of his own, saying: "Love the beard, looks great."
However, Jake's beard seemed to cause a bit of a stir on social media during the course of the episode by dividing fans on Twitter.
One admiring fan wrote: "Jake Wood's beard is very satisfying to look at."
A second ITV viewer was swooning over the new hair, tweeting: "F*** ME MAX BRANNING IS LOOKING FIT AND IT IS 100% DOWN TO THE BEARD."
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However, Jake seemed to ruffle a few feathers with some his soap fans, as a third fan who was clearly shocked commented: "The beard??? Obviously Jake liked it but….. #BeatTheChasers."
Although his beard appeared to have been a hit with many, Jake's time on the show found less success as he played for the big £70k cash prize but ultimately came out unsuccessful on the episode.
He'd got off to a good start during his cash builder round by building up £3,000 but he opted to take on all five of the spin-off show's Chasers – a risky move on the show – and lost out in the final when he tripped up on one of his questions and ran out of time.
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As he ran out of time, the money wasn't able to go to his charity's pocket.
Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan, 39, explained: "You were doing so well and as soon as you got a question wrong you went to pieces.”
Jake's former co-star Tanya Franks, who plays Rainie Highway on the BBC soap, had wished her friend Jake well during the show on Twitter.
She said: “Fabulous @mrjakedwood supporting @AlzResearchUK on #BeatTheChasers !! Cracking mate, cracking.”
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