'I didn't have a choice': The Wanted star Max George gives candid health update after 'sensation in chest'
Max George has given fans a fresh health update after undergoing shock heart surgery.
The Wanted star has revealed he had a second operation weeks after getting fitted with a pacemaker after it caused a 'flickering sensation' in his chest. The 36-year-old had the device, which helps control the heart rate, fitted in December.
Speaking to The Sun On Sunday, George said: "I thought I was on the road to recovery but when I was told I needed a second operation I was nervous, as pulling the pacemaker wires out of the heart wall risks bleeding on the heart.
READ MORE: Tragedy of girl, 7, snatched by a monster as she slept in a tent in the garden. Now he wants freedom
READ MORE: 'Prettiest and most isolated' UK town where nearest shop is 40 minutes away
'I didn't have a choice, though. I had to have it done.'
He added: 'I was trying to get back to good health but was still having a flickering sensation for weeks after I had my pacemaker fitted and it was gradually getting worse and worse. When my heart rate went up, it was causing a shock in my heart which was making me jump all the time. My chest was shaking.'
George said he felt 'really nervous' the night before the surgery, adding: 'I didn't sleep much. I was worried it could go wrong again and felt anxious that it could bleed out.'
He said he was not allowed to listen to music during the first operation, when he had the pacemaker fitted, but was able to during the second.
'Obviously an operation is a scary thing, but the music really helped and the nurse was reassuring,' he said.
'Slide Away (Oasis) started to play and I tried to take myself into my own world', he said. 'Afterwards I was just pleased it had gone successfully.'
Salford-born George previously revealed he would be having a lung biopsy, a procedure that involves a small piece of lung tissue being removed and sent to a laboratory to be examined and checked for abnormal cells, according to the NHS.
Speaking about this, he said: 'The doctor did warn me there is a small chance that I could lose my voice. That was pretty worrying, but I decided I needed to take the risk. The biopsy was pretty gnarly, it's a camera with prongs on the end that goes down your throat.
'It was painful. The recovery was tough, I had chest pain and was coughing up blood for five days.'
The singer has also spoken about the support he has received from friends and family as well as his partner, Maisie Smith, whom he met while competing on Strictly Come Dancing.
'The worst part for me is seeing my parents go through this,' he said. 'My mum has found it traumatic. I've tried to hold back from being upset in front of them. I feel helpless and responsible.
'It's been lovely to have Maisie here with me at home. She got me an Apple watch for Christmas so I can monitor my heart rate. She's been a great nurse and is very affectionate.
'Recovery has been a slow process, I'm trying to increase my walking every day – taking my dog Albert out and doing an hour on the treadmill daily. I was really fit before this all happened and now I'm the least fit I've ever been.'
Reflecting further on the health issues he has faced, he said: 'It plays on my mind, why this happened to me.
'I had a full heart scan a year before for a TV show I was doing and it was fine, so it doesn't make sense. I don't drink alcohol and I don't smoke, so it's mind-boggling.
'It's been four-and-a-half years since I last drank alcohol – it was life-changing for me, it just suited me better. Don't get me wrong, sometimes when I'm down the pub watching football I am absolutely gasping for a pint, but I think it's become a way of life now.
'Since this happened, though, I have thought, as long as I am balanced there is nothing wrong with me having a couple of pints of Guinness now and again. I have said to my dad that when I'm better we should go to the pub – I think I've earned it.'
The singer previously said his pacemaker was the 'the best Christmas present' and shared a photo on Instagram of his scar. It sits just below a 'special tattoo' on the left side of his chest that says 04/08/1998, in reference to the birthday of his late bandmate Tom Parker, who died in 2022.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why do concert tickets cost so much these days? And is it all Ticketmaster's fault?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Concert ticket prices have risen sharply in recent years. Arena gig tickets have more than doubled, in real terms, since the turn of the century. For the biggest artists, increases have been bigger still. A basic standing ticket to see Oasis at Wembley Stadium on their last tour, in 2009, cost £44 (around £70 adjusted for inflation). The official price, when tickets for the Wembley gig in July went on sale, was £151. The average ticket for Taylor Swift's Eras tour in the UK was £206. This has become a political issue, and at the centre of the debate is the role of the world's largest ticket sales company, Ticketmaster, responsible for both these tours. The UK competition regulator launched an investigation into its sale of Oasis tickets, in particular into the use of "dynamic pricing". In March, President Trump signed an executive order promising "to bring common-sense reforms" to ticket sellers in America's live entertainment industry. If not a monopoly player, it's a near-monopoly, controlling more than 75% of concert ticket sales at major venues in the US, and about 60% in the UK. In 2010 it merged with the world's largest live events company, Live Nation, which controls more than 265 concert venues in the US; and owns or part-owns the Academy Music Group chain of venues, and festivals from Reading to Latitude, in the UK. Live Nation, now Ticketmaster's parent company, is also a major promoter (organising, funding and publicising music events), which promoted 54,000 events last year. It manages artists, too; and it's a big player in advertising and sponsorship, event parking, food and drink sales, merchandise and security. The US Department of Justice describes it as a "live entertainment ecosystem"; Liam Byrne MP, chair of the Commons Business Committee, says it has "more arms than an octopus". Live Nation "has faced allegations of predatory pricing, misleading fees, restrictive contracts, technical blunders, suppressing or colluding with competitors and generally abusing its monopolistic power", said Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian. Fans struggle to get tickets for big events, often facing technical problems, and long online queues; its app is notoriously awful and glitchy. Pricing is opaque. Which? has complained about the "drip pricing" of extra fees – on a £45 ticket, you might get a £6.10 service charge, a £1.75 facility charge, and a £2.75 order processing fee – making it hard to estimate the final price. As a result, Ticketmaster is very unpopular among fans. The country musician Zach Bryan released a live album called "All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster". A poll for More in Common found that 58% of Britons would like to see it nationalised. Michael Rapino, chief executive of Live Nation, claims that big concerts are still "massively underpriced". He may have a point. Demand is often high, and supply is limited. An estimated ten million fans wanted tickets for Oasis, so they could have been priced much higher, and still sold out. A live concert is a special experience; people, even on modest incomes, will pay large sums to see acts they love. And many forces have contributed to price rises. The internet has reduced music sales, so artists now depend on concert fees for nearly all of their income; big artists insist on a high proportion of the revenue from ticket sales. Shows have become more spectacular and expensive to stage. Inflation has been high, and VAT is 20%. The ticket price is shared between, in rough order: artist (including crew, transport etc.), venue, VAT, promoter and ticket seller. Ticketmaster – or a rival such as AEG – might pick up 10% of the total price. Live Nation says its ticket profit margins are less than 2%. Finally, "scalping" can also drive up prices. In the early 2000s, sites such as StubHub launched as legitimate platforms for fans to resell unwanted tickets. But many have been exploited by touts, who buy large numbers of tickets to resell at inflated prices. The problem has been made worse by scalper "bots", which bombard ticketing sites with purchases destined for resale. Such bots are illegal in the UK, but are hard to police. No. Last May, the US Justice Department filed an anti-monopoly suit against Live Nation; the then assistant attorney general, Doha Mekki, claimed that Ticketmaster is rife with "abuse, exploitation and self-dealing". The case is ongoing; it has been reported that it may try to break up the company. The UK Competition and Markets Authority found that Ticketmaster and Live Nation may have breached consumer laws by selling Oasis tickets at almost 2.5 times the standard price, without explaining that they came with no additional benefits, and by demanding a higher price than initially quoted after a lengthy queuing process. Many artists – Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Neil Young – have complained publicly about Ticketmaster. As far back as the 1990s, the US rock band Pearl Jam tried to organise a tour without using the company, but concluded that it was nearly impossible. There are, though, things that artists with substantial followings can do. They can reject dynamic pricing, as Coldplay and Neil Young have done. Or they can go further, like The Cure's Robert Smith. On The Cure's last tour, not only was dynamic pricing rejected, but tickets were priced at as little as £16, and resale was prohibited. Arguably, says Dorian Lynksey, Smith "made things awkward for artists by proving that they set the prices and dictate the conditions" – though they are happy for Ticketmaster to take the blame.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chartbreaker: Mariah the Scientist on Her Biggest Hit's ‘Casual' Start & Using Her Platform to ‘Help People Feel Included'
True to her name, Mariah the Scientist's songs are often the result of several months, and sometimes years, spent combining different elements of choruses and verses until finding the right mixture. But when it came time for the 27-year-old to unveil her latest single, the sultry 'Burning Blue,' the R&B singer-songwriter was at a crossroads. So, she experimented with her promotional strategy, too — and achieved the desired momentum. 'Mariah felt she was in a space between treating [music] like a hobby and this being her career,' recalls Morgan Buckles, the artist's sister and manager. And so, they crafted a curated, monthlong rollout — filled with snippets, TikTok posts encouraging fan interaction and various live performances — that helped the song go viral even before its early May arrival. Upon its release, Mariah the Scientist scored her first solo Billboard Hot 100 entry and breakthrough hit. More from Billboard Young Thug Recalls Getting 'Stood Up' By Mariah The Scientist on Their First Date Chappell Roan Did the Viral 'Apple' Dance During Charli xcx's Primavera Sound Set: 'Love You B-ch!' 50 Years Ago, Elton John Became First Artist to Enter Billboard 200 at No. 1 - Just How 'Fantastic' Was the Feat? Mariah Amani Buckles grew up in Atlanta, singing from an early age. She attended St. John's University in New York and studied biology, but ultimately dropped out to pursue music. Her self-released debut EP, To Die For, arrived in 2018, after which she signed to RCA Records and Tory Lanez's One Umbrella label. She stayed in those deals until 2022 — releasing albums Master and Ry Ry World in 2019 and 2021, respectively — before leaving to continue as an independent artist. 'Over time, you start realizing [people] want you to change things,' Mariah says of her start in the industry. 'Everybody wants to control your art. I don't want to argue with you about what I want, because if we don't want the same things, I'll just go find somebody who does.' In 2023, after six months as an independent artist, Mariah signed a joint venture deal with Epic Records and released her third album, To Be Eaten Alive, which became her first to reach the Billboard 200. She then made two Hot 100 appearances as a featured artist in early 2024, on 'IDGAF' with Tee Grizzley and Chris Brown and 'Dark Days' with 21 Savage. 'Burning Blue' marks Mariah's first release of 2025 — and first new music since boyfriend Young Thug's release from jail following his bombshell YSL RICO trial. The song takes inspiration from Purple Rain-era Prince balladry with booming drums and warbling bass — and Mariah admits that the Jetski Purp-produced beat on YouTube (originally titled 'Blue Flame') likely influenced some lyrics, too. She initially recorded part of the track over an unofficial MP3 rip, but after Purp caught wind of it and learned his girlfriend was a fan, he gave Mariah the beat. Mariah then looped in Nineteen85 (Drake, Nicki Minaj, Khalid) to flesh out the production. 'I [recorded the first part of 'Burning Blue'] in the first room I recorded in when I first started making music in Atlanta,' Mariah says. 'I don't want to say it was a throwaway, but it was casual. I wrote some of it, and then I put it to the side.' Once Epic A&R executive Jennifer Raymond heard the in-progress track, she insisted on its completion enough that Mariah and her collaborators convened in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in February to finish the song. By that point, they sensed something special. Mariah shared a low-quality snippet on Instagram, but Morgan — who joined as a tour manager in 2022 — knew a more polished presentation was needed to reach its full potential. Morgan eyed Billboard's Women in Music event in late March as the launchpad for the 'Burning Blue' campaign. Though Mariah wasn't performing or presenting at the event, Morgan wanted to take advantage of her already being in glam to shoot a flashier teaser than Mariah's initial IG story, which didn't even show her face. The two decided on a behind-the-scenes, pre-red carpet clip soundtracked by a studio-quality snippet of 'Burning Blue.' Posted on April 1, that clip showcased its downtempo chorus and Mariah's silky vocal and has since amassed more than two million views, with designer Jean Paul Gaultier's official TikTok account sharing the video to its feed. Ten days later, Morgan advised Mariah to share another TikTok, this time with an explicit call to action encouraging fans to use the song in their own posts and teasing that she 'might have a surprise' for fans with enough interaction. Mariah then debuted the song live on April 19 during a set at Howard University — a smart exclusive for her core audience — as anticipation for the song continued to build. Two weeks later, 'Burning Blue' hit digital service providers on May 2, further fueled by a Claire Bishara-helmed video on May 8 that has over 7 million YouTube views. 'We're at the point where opportunity meets preparation,' Morgan reflects of the concerted but not overbearing promotional approach. '[To Be Eaten Alive] happened so fast, I didn't even know what 'working' a project meant. This time, I studied other artists' rollouts to figure out how to make this campaign personal to her.' 'Burning Blue' debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 17, marking Mariah's first time in the top 40. Following its TikTok-fueled debut, the song has shown legs at radio too, entering Rhythmic Airplay, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay — to which Morgan credits Epic's radio team, spearheaded by Traci Adams and Dontay Thompson. '[The song] ended up going to radio a week earlier [than scheduled] because Dontay was like, 'If y'all like this song so much, then play it!,' and they did,' Morgan jokes. With 'Burning Blue' proving to be a robust start to an exciting new chapter, Mariah has a bona fide hit to start the summer as she prepares to unleash her new project, due before the fall. She recently performed the track on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and will have the opportunity to fan the song's flames in front of festival audiences including Governors Ball in June and Lollapalooza in August. But as her following continues to heat up, Mariah's mindset is as cool as ever. 'I'll take what I can get,' Mariah says. 'As long as I can use my platform to help people feel included or understood, I'm good.' A version of this story appears in the June 7, 2025, issue of Billboard. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
EastEnders star to leave Albert Square after 4 years to seek new opportunities
Bobby Brazier is leaving popular BBC soap EastEnders after four years, according to reports. The actor, who is the son of late reality star Jade Goody and former footballer Jeff Brazier, was named runner up of Strictly Come Dancing in 2023. Brazier, who plays Freddie Slater in the BBC soap, will leave Albert Square by the end of this year, reports The Sun. The newspaper said an EastEnders spokeswoman revealed: 'We can confirm that Bobby Brazier will be leaving EastEnders, and we wish him all the best for the future.' A TV insider told The Sun that EastEnders bosses met with Bobby at a time when he was already thinking about making his exit. They added: 'The timing of the decision worked for both, but his final scenes are not for a while yet. 'The character has had a great run, but the time is now right for Bobby to look for other opportunities, and for EastEnders to wave goodbye to Freddie Slater.' Recommended reading: EastEnders star suspended by BBC after disabled slur on Strictly set EastEnders icon to leave BBC soap after 21 years saying 'its time to take a rest' EastEnders star has a famous dad as fans reveal family connection While filming for the soap, Bobby won a National Television Award (NTA) in 2024 for his role as Freddie and he starred in Curfew, a Paramount+ drama. Ahead of last year's Soccer Aid football match, Bobby trained with his dad Jeff but he won't be taking part in the charity event this year. Bobby's departure news comes as Lacey Slater is also taking a break from the soap as Stacey Slater while Michelle Ryan (Zoe Slater), Jake Wood (Max Branning) and Max Bowden (Ben Mitchell) return to Albert Square. Newsquest has approached the BBC for comment.
