THE Wanted singer Max George has told how he’ll spend the festive period in hospital, after tests revealed that he has a heart condition.
While the 36-year-old did not disclose his diagnosis, he did reveal that invasive surgery may be needed, to put him on the road to recovery.
He said: ““I have a lot more tests to determine the extent of the problems and what surgery I will need to get me back on my feet.”
Max’s admission comes just two years after the death of his bandmate, Tom Parker, from a rare brain tumour aged just 33.
But it’s not the first time the star has experienced some difficulties around his health.
Manchester-born Max has also struggled with his vision, after a serious eye infection left him temporality blind. The singer has also opened up in the past about his struggles with alcoholism.
Here we look inside the popstar’s three point challenges.
The Wanted star shocked his 300 K social media fanbase, by posting a photo of himself in a hospital bed this week, as he revealed that he’d been rushed in after being taken ill.
He said: “I felt really unwell and was taken to hospital. Unfortunately after some tests they’ve found that I have some issues with my heart.”
Max added that he will need to stay in for further tests, to determine the extent of the treatment that will be needed.
He said: “I have a lot more tests to determine the extent of the problems and what surgery I will need to get me back on my feet.”
“It’s going to be a difficult few weeks/months and Christmas in a hospital bed wasn’t exactly what I’d planned.”
The singer added that he feels fortunate to have the support of his family and his girlfriend, former EastEnders and Strictly star, Maisie Smith, 23.
He said: “I am surrounded with love and support from my wonderful partner Maisie, her family, my family and friends and I am 100 per cent in the best place.”
Max has also experienced serious problems with his vision, after an infection left him blind in his right eye. Back in 2011, he revealed how he had to have part of his eye removed to restore his sight. He said at the time. “I can’t see properly out of my right eye, my left eye does all the work.”
Like many boyband members, Max has also struggled with the highs and lows of fame, that have resulted in alcoholism.
Pop star Max confessed that he’d sometimes drink “ten pints and three bottles of wine in one night,” as he used the booze to medicate the bodyshock of fame.
But after one particular binge drinking session around his birthday, the onslaught was starting to affect his liver.
He said: “I was ill for a week. The doctor looked at my liver and said my liver count was pretty low, I’m not messing with my liver. So I stopped.”
Max’s mental health also suffered following the death of his bandmate Tom Parker from stage four glioblastoma in 2022 aged just 33.
Max described how his depression and anxiety manifested in physical symptoms, which left him unable to leave his apartment each day.
He said: “I had a three-month period in my life where I couldn’t leave my apartment without being sick.”
“My head was spinning. I couldn’t walk. So I ended up in hospital having scans on my brain and it was all down to being depressed.”
But it was not the singer’s first brush with depression, after he was afflicted with the mental health disorder after The Wanted disbanded, following a successful world tour in 2014.
Max was then fortunate to land the role of Clint in the hit US TV series Glee.
But despite living the high life in LA, Max reveals that somehow, he wasn’t happy. He said: “
“There wasn’t anything specific, I felt like I was in a rut about what to do next, but I felt lucky, I have a great family, I got Glee and moved to LA. But nothing worked.”
“The doctors put me on stuff [medication] over there. It helped – but I came off it because I didn’t want to take something for six, seven or eight months and not be fine without it.”
And the anxiety symptoms even left him hospitalized:
“I remember, the first morning it happened. I woke up and had felt fine the day before. My jaw seized up. I thought I had done something in my sleep.”
“I came home for Christmas and got more opinions from doctors, brain scans. Nothing showed up, so they agreed it must be anxiety, depression.”
He continued: “I couldn’t do any exercise without being sick. Then three or four months into it, I woke up and my head was completely clear.”
Back in 2022, Max appeared in the Channel 4 reality series Scared of the Dark, hosted by Danny Dyer, where eight celebrities are forced to live in the dark for eight days.
In the episode, Max was comforted by football legend Paul Gascoigne, whom himself has battled drink demons, as he opened up about his drinking battle and the death of his bandmate.
