Max George has revealed that he now requires heart surgery sooner than expected, having previously been told he’ll have to spend Christmas in hospital.
The 36-year-old pop star, who rose to fame as 1/5 of The Wanted, posted on Instagram last week that he had been admitted to hospital after feeling ‘really unwell’.
He was later informed that he had a ‘block’ in his heart. While he awaited confirmation of which procedure he required, the singer expressed his hopes for a pacemaker, which is a small device used to treat some arrhythmias.
Now, in his latest update, the Glad You Came hitmaker explained that he had a ‘full CT scan’ on his heart today.
‘Not something I’d choose to do again!’, he stated.
Having revealed in a clip last night that his heart rate was reaching as low as 35, he continued in his lengthy caption: ‘As I mentioned yesterday, I have a 2:1 block in my heart.
‘Unfortunately my heart rate hasn’t picked up at all in almost a week. Because of this, we don’t have too much time to wait so it looks like I’m going to be in surgery way quicker than the doctors first thought.’
On the plus side, doctors have told him that he ‘may even be home for Christmas’.
‘Still a pretty scary time right now and the last few nights have been really rough, but I wanted to say that I’m absolutely humbled by all your messages of support,’ added the star.
‘It’s given me a much needed boost and my family have been overwhelmed with support, which means more to me than anything.’
He accompanied the caption with a series of pictures from what he dubbed a ‘day trip’ to have his scan, covered in wires but maintaining a smile as he posed with thumbs up inside the ambulance.
After posting the update, Max was inundated with supportive messages from fans.
‘Sending you lots of love! You got this 💪🏻❤️’, commented emmanancy29x.
‘Oh max💔 sending you so much love, hope you’re on the mend soon❤️’, wrote michelletracey_.
‘You’re in good hands! Hang in there Max 💙’, echoed blue.likethecolour.
In his first candid post addressing his heart problems, Max said that he would be having ‘a lot more tests to determine the extent of the problems’ and what procedure he needed to ‘get [him] back on [his] feet’.
‘It’s gonna be a difficult few weeks / months… and Christmas in a hospital bed wasn’t exactly what I had planned!’, he added.
The musician praised his loved ones for being there for him, including his girlfriend, former EastEnders actress and Strictly Come Dancing star Maisie Smith.
Insisting that he is ‘100% in the best place,’ Max concluded: ‘Although this is a huge shock and no doubt a setback, it’s something I’ll take on with all I’ve got! I count myself very lucky that this was caught when it was.
‘Apologies if I bore you with updates in the coming weeks..I’ve probably got a month in a bed and there’s not THAT much to do!😂’
In the days that followed, Max’s mum, Barbara, also gave an interview, saying that her son is ‘being very well taken care of’.
She explained how her son was admitted to a hospital in Manchester after his A&E visit, and ‘he has been checked over and has had various tests to find out what the best course of action is’.
Barbara added that Max is ‘very grateful for all the well-wishes from his fans’ and assured everyone that ‘he’s got all his friends and family around him too.’
His hospitalisation comes after Max was forced to pull out of a stage role in March due to ‘unforeseen medical reasons’.
In September, the pop band also had to cancel a string of dates of their upcoming reunion tour, but did not cite the reasons why.
Max joined The Wanted after his first group, Avenue, disbanded in 2009.
Following his audition, he was successful in earning a place in the boyband alongside Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, and Nathan Sykes.
Tom Parker was also part of the fivesome, but he sadly died aged 33 from a brain tumour in March 2022, leaving behind a wife and two young children.
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