The Wanted’s Max George has been whisked off to hospital just as the band’s US tour was about to kick off.

The 37-year-old singer, currently dating ex-EastEnders star Maisie Smith, shared a grim update from a hospital waiting room, facing a

daunting five-hour wait. This comes on the heels of reports that Max, who once romanced Michelle Keegan, had weathered two major heart surgeries and now sports a pacemaker.

 

 

His post, adorned with a pair of queasy emojis, read: “Current waiting time: approximately 5 hours.” The specifics of his latest health hiccup remain shrouded in mystery.

Earlier this year, Max underwent a hush-hush second operation to correct an issue with his pacemaker wires being inserted too deep, reports the Mirror.

 

 

The singer-turned-actor shared a snapshot from his hospital bed, clad in a medical gown, with fans. His caption read: “Tin man needed a bit of oil before tour. Next stop… USA! ! !”.

Max’s first brush with hospitalisation came in 2024 when he was diagnosed with a heart block. His road to recovery was fraught with pain following the procedure.

Adding insult to injury, doctors reportedly dealt him another blow, warning that his singing career might be over as he faced a lung biopsy for a separate health concern.

 

 

In a chat with Heat magazine after his surgery, he confessed: “It’s probably taken me until about the last two weeks to almost fully recover where I feel normal.”

He added: “When I wake up in the morning, my energy’s much higher now. I’m getting there. It’s taken a while, but I feel really good.”

 

 

His bandmate Siva Kaneswaran chimed in: “You’ve come a long way. I’m very proud of you. You should have seen him in January or February, we’re very lucky that he’s recovered very fast… I’d let him know if he was lagging!”.

Siva and Max are the only original members of The Wanted who will be touring America, having announced their tour plans last year.

The pair are set to perform across North America as well as the UK. They have since rebranded themselves as The Wanted 2.0.