The night Wanted star Max George confided his devastation to me, KATIE HIND reveals, as friends reveal what they blame for his health problems

It was a balmy evening on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood in October 2014 that I… terribly renewed boy band star Max George. We were in Rock & Reilly’s, an expensive but dingy Irish bar and restaurant – and the singer of The Wanted was unsteady on his feet and slurred his speech.

At the time, the Mancunian star was trying to realize his dream of hitting Tinseltown as an actor, hoping, like many before him, that his British accent and charm would ingratiate him with Americans.

Only the work didn’t really get off the ground. So Max, then 26, decided to go out into the city night after night.

As the evening went on, it started to get more raucous. And Max was so worn out that I guided him down the stairs, where he swayed back and forth in case he fell.

While vaguely explaining that he was in Los Angeles for audition season, I suggested he leave the venue, which was also popular with Jason Statham and reportedly owned by former Tottenham Hotspur player Robbie Keane (who played for LA Galaxy played in time).

I now wonder if that moment was a red flag for the star who was a bona fide pop pin-up in his heyday. The Wanted had announced a hiatus in January 2014 and Max was a fixture on the London nightclub scene.

He confided to me that he was distraught that The Wanted had recently gone their separate ways. He had also recently divorced his fiancée, actress Michelle Keegan. He was devastated – and I wondered if he was using alcohol to dull his pain.

It now seems that Max has become yet another victim of the boy band phenomenon: chewed up and spit out by the music industry machine, only to fall into the clutches of alcohol.

I was reminded of that encounter in 2014, when the one-time heartbeat shared a photo of himself in his hospital bed on Thursday evening.

Max, now 36, took to Instagram to tell his 370,000 followers that he needs major heart surgery after a terrifying dash to the emergency room.

On Thursday night, the one-time heartbeat shared a photo of himself in his hospital bed

Despite his upcoming operation, which means he will be in hospital over Christmas, he posed with a thumbs up and told his followers he considered himself ‘very lucky’ but admitted the ordeal had left him in a ‘huge shock’ received.

Max wrote: ‘Hey everyone. Yesterday I felt very unwell and was taken to hospital. Unfortunately, after some tests they discovered that I have problems with my heart.

‘I have many more tests to determine the extent of the problems and what surgery I will need to get back on my feet.

‘It’s going to be a tough few weeks/months… and Christmas in a hospital bed wasn’t exactly what I had planned! But as always, I am surrounded with love and support by my amazing partner Maisie, her family, my family and friends… and I am 100 percent in the best place. While this is a huge shock and undoubtedly a setback, it is something I will face with everything I have! I consider myself very fortunate that this was picked up when it happened.”

Max is now in a relationship with Maisie Smith, the EastEnders actress he met while starring in Strictly in 2020, who at 23 is 13 years younger than him

While dating Michelle Keegan, who was starring in Coronation Street at the time, he asked the show’s producers if The Wanted could perform at the Rovers Return.

To make matters even more tragic, Max’s health battle comes just two years after his The Wanted bandmate, Tom Parker, died of a brain tumor.

Max stopped drinking after his friend’s death and admitted that he had a problem and had used alcohol as a crutch to ease his anxiety.

But those who know him well fear that all those years of stardom and partying may have contributed to his suffering now.

As a showbiz reporter, I watched the boy band – made up of Max, Tom, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes – regularly as they enjoyed a string of chart successes between 2010 and 2012, with hits like All Time Laag and Glad You Came.

Max was always the loud, brash one.

Shockingly, one evening when I met the boys to interview them about an upcoming single, Max made a bizarre comment about my appearance. I attributed his comment to the fact that he had probably been drinking.

The band, who lived together in a flash apartment in the trendy Shoreditch area of ​​east London, were at show business events every night.

On another occasion I remember Max giddily telling me that during his relationship with Michelle, who was starring in Coronation Street at the time, he had asked the show’s producers if The Wanted could perform in the soap pub, the Rovers Return . His bandmates apparently looked on in horror at his ridiculous request.

Siva Kaneswaran, Nathan Sykes, Tom Parker, Max and Jay McGuiness of The Wanted in 2021

But friends of the star say he was like a ‘kid in a candy shop’ when he rose to fame in 2009 after Justin Bieber’s manager, US music mogul Scooter Braun, picked him as one of five singers in the band.

After all, Max had a very normal upbringing in the Manchester suburb of Swinton.

As a teenager he had the ambition to become a professional footballer. But those dreams were shattered after he lost a contract with Preston North End.

So his foray into music gave him some much-needed direction.

As he grew up, Max quickly earned a reputation as a ladies’ man.

He and Michelle dated for over a year before getting engaged. When they split, he was linked to actresses including Lindsay Lohan and Carmen Electra and The Only Way is Essex star Lucy Mecklenburgh. After dating footballer Ryan Giggs’ ex-wife Stacey, he is now dating Maisie Smith, the EastEnders actress he met while starring in Strictly in 2020, who aged 23 for 13 years younger than him.

“Max loved being in a boy band, it gave him everything a young man could wish for,” says a friend of the star.

‘The problem is that it always seems so nice at the time, but in reality the damage that can be done is enormous.’