Maisie Smith and boyfriend Max George forced 'off grid' after 'nightmare' holiday fire

EastEnders star Maisie Smith detailed a lucky escape after the home she and Max George had planned to stay in on their holiday to the South of France was hit by a fire.

The former soap star discussed the frightful ordeal during an appearance of Sunday Brunch (August 10). Fortunately the pair hadn't yet arrived at their destination when the fire broke out and so they had to switch up their plans at the last minute.

Maisie confirmed she and Max instead stayed at another property not too far away from their original holiday home - but it wasn't an ideal set up for the actress.

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The conversation was sparked when Tim Lovejoyand Simon Rimmer quizzed Maisie on why their Channel 4 team had been unable to contact her prior to the show.

They'd been told that Maisie had "gone off grid" and wanted to understand what this meant. Tim tried to get to the bottom of why she'd decided to cut contact and was left in shock over her honest reply in the opening minutes of the show.

After Tim's probe, Maisie confirmed there was another reason she had been without her phone, explaining: "It was the South of France, it wasn't really off-grid, it's quite a common holiday destination."

The former EastEnders star added: "But there was a fire and everything was destroyed. The house we were supposed to be staying in, it was destroyed."

"So where did you stay," TIm asked in surprise, as Maisie confirmed: "In an airbnb, down the round from where we were supposed to be staying."

"So all of your technical equipment was destroyed?" quizzed Tim as Maisie told him: "No, we were on a fishing lake."

"Do you fish?" asked Tim, as she replied: "No but my boyfriend did?"

Tim seemed to detect that the EastEnders star hadn't had the greatest time, as she didn't appear to be overly enthused about her getaway in the remote French location.

The host pondered over Maisie had enjoyed her time out and the former Strictly star explained: "If you like to fish it was great... but if you didn't..."

She was then cut short as the studio burst into giggles and Tim moved the conversation on.

Maisie and Max met while competing on the 2020 series of Strictly Come Dancing, forming a romantic relationship two years later in 2022.

Today, Simon and Tim were also joined in the Sunday Brunchstudio by Rhys James, Sam Ryder, Tiwa Savage and Ashley Thomas.

Sunday Brunch airs every Sunday from 10am on Channel 4.