The Wanted’s Max George says he ended up in hospital with depression after band split

Max George has bravely opened up about how The Wanted splitting impacted his mental health back in 2014.

The 32 year old, who recently unveiled his plans to have kids with Stacey Giggs, explained that he ended up in hospital with depression following the band’s indefinite hiatus.

Speaking to Jamie Laing and Francis Boulle on the Private Parts podcast, the former Strictly Come Dancing star said he was “in love with being in the band” and after it fell apart he felt as if it was like an “addiction being taken away.”

“I had a three month period in my life where I couldn’t even go out my apartment without being sick,” he told the Made In Chelsea stars on the podcast.

He continued” “I couldn’t walk. My head was spinning. So I ended up in hospital having scans on my brain and all sorts. I did not know what was wrong with me, it was crazy. And apparently it was all down to being, I guess, depressed.”

Max had bought a house in Manchester but after spending just three nights in it alone, three weeks after his last show with The Wanted, he decided he “can’t do this” and moved to Los Angeles.

Luckily, the day after he landed, his manager called to tell him about an audition opportunity for the hit show Glee – which also covered his band’s top song Glad You Came. He got the part and ended up playing the character Clint for an entire season.

He went on: “There wasn’t anything specific, I thought, ‘I feel okay, and I know I was in a bit of a rut about what to do next, but I feel lucky, I have a great family, I’ve 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 get in the mindset of, ‘If you go six, seven or eight months on this stuff, you’re gonna think that you can’t be you without it.'”

Max, whose former bandmate Tom Parker has been battling an inoperable brain tumour, continued: “I remember, the first morning it happened. I woke up and had felt fine the day before.

“My jaw had seized up. I thought somewhere in my sleep I got lockjaw, because I couldn’t move my mouth.

“But the next day it was the same and my doctor said there was nothing wrong with it. So I started thinking there must be something wrong in my head.

“I came home for Christmas and got more opinions from doctors, brain scans. Nothing showed up, so they agreed it must be anxiety, depression.

“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.”

“I couldn’t believe it had gone. I cried to myself because I felt like me again and I felt like I could go back to living my life,” he added.