EastEnders actress Shona McGarty’s mystery boyfriend is revealed as she ‘soft launches’ her relationship with tattooed Irish musician David Bracken

Shona McGarty’s mysterious boyfriend has been revealed as David Bracken.

The EastEnders actress took to Instagram on Monday morning, where she “softly launched” her relationship with the tattooed Irish musician.

Shona shared a black and white photo of their hands intertwined, showing David showing off his signature tattoo.

The actress wrote, “I promise,” along with a romantic quote from John Lennon in the caption, which read, “Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given, never forgotten, never let it go.”

Two days earlier, David had shared the same shot, writing, “A promise is a promise. To never break. #happy #happyplace.’

The guitarist is one half of Irish guitar duo Blessed, who regularly perform in their homeland and have over 18,000 Instagram followers.

In October 2022, Shona and her ex-boyfriend Max Bowden reportedly split after a six-month romance, after he welcomed a baby boy with his ex Roisin Buckle.

Roisin found out she was pregnant in early 2022, but the couple decided to separate in March, agreeing to co-parent once their son was born.

Max – who plays Ben Mitchell on EastEnders – and Shona’s former romance then came to light in May 2022 after sources claimed the pair were ‘inseparable’.

They made their relationship official on Instagram in August 2022, but months later, a source told The sun: “A lot has happened in Max’s life and things just got too complicated with Shona involved.

“Max will always have a lot of love and respect for Shona, but it’s just not the right time.”

A friend close to the couple added: “Max and Shona have never spoken about it publicly, but as those close to them know, they have never been in an official relationship and remain good friends who decided several months ago to do nothing. to pursue romantically. .’

Last month, Shona broke her silence after giving up her role as Whitney Dean in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

The actress has appeared on the show for 15 years, having joined in 2008 at the age of 16, but decided to leave after the cast reportedly shook up.

Speak with Inside Soap magazineshe said, “It wasn’t an easy decision because I’ve made so many friends.

“I’ve seen people come and go, and in the meantime Whitney is one of the longest standing characters.

“I’ve had so much fun and done so many storylines, some of which were sensitive, and I’m honored to be entrusted with such heavy things year after year.”

Shona continued, “So I will be sad to say goodbye to my friends and family, but it was the right decision for me because I want to do other things. After fifteen years I’ve done pretty well.’

Shona could join the cast of Dancing On Ice this year after talks she’s dumped the soap, with an insider telling The Sun ‘she’s on ITV’s wish list’ and a ‘great name’ if she joined on the ITV show.

The source said: ‘Shona is a great name for Dancing On Ice and she’s on ITV’s wish list. She’s a huge talent and a very well-known name, and it would be a huge coup to walk from EastEnders straight to their rival channel’s biggest show.

Shona is in the running for a stint on the ice when the show starts in January, but it’s all early dates.

Several of the stars invited to the next series are already practicing at their local rink to make sure they’ve got the basics down. It would be huge for ITV to get Shona and they would love to see her on board.”

An EastEnders spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Shona is leaving and the bosses have decided to write out the character Karen. At the moment we are not adding anything further.’

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday about her decision to leave Albert Square, Shona said: ‘I have decided to spread my wings and will be leaving EastEnders. I’ve enjoyed my years on the show.”

A source told the publication that the decision “wasn’t an easy decision,” but that Shona believes now is the right time to “try something new.”

They added: ‘She hopes the door stays open for her character to return one day, but nothing is guaranteed and it’s all in the hands of the screenwriters.

It is thought that Shona will pursue a singing career, something she does not shy away from. In 2012 she performed on Children in Need singing Sm Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come.

She released a charity song for Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2018 and covered The Beatles’ Let It Be for the Mind charity in 2021. Last year she sang at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance for BBC1.

The source told The Sun: “Shona not only likes acting, but she also likes to sing and has a real musical talent, so that’s one of the options available.”

The star narrowly missed out on winning Best Leading Performer at the British Soap Awards this year, but EastEnders took home the big prize: Best British Soap.