The Wanted singer needs urgent heart-block surgery

Max George, of boy band The Wanted, has said he needs surgery for a heart condition, "way quicker than the doctors first thought".

Taken into hospital on Wednesday, the singer, 36, had a scan on Monday and then posted: "We don't have too much time to wait."

He had been diagnosed with "a 2:1 block in my heart", George said, where the heart beats more slowly or with an abnormal rhythm because of a problem with the electrical pulses.

It was "a pretty scary time right now and the last few nights have been really rough" but he hoped to be out of hospital by Christmas.

George's message was accompanied by a series of photos and a video of him on a hospital trolley, with wires attached to his chest, and giving the thumbs up.

"Had a little day trip today," he wrote, "full Cat scan on my heart - not something I'd choose to do again.

"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.

"I 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 - both people I know and those I don't.

"It's given me a much-needed boost and my family have been overwhelmed with support, which means more to me than anything. Much love, Max."

In a separate video, posted on Sunday, George told followers the scan would determine whether he needed "a pacemaker, a defibrillator or something else".

"It's the top part not sending signals to the bottom, apparently," he said.

He was "feeling OK tonight", George said in Sunday's video, adding: "The City game didn't help much," in a reference to Manchester City's dramatic late defeat to rivals Manchester United.

The British Heart Foundation says an atrioventricular heart block is when the electrical impulses are delayed or blocked as they travel between the atria (the top chambers of the heart) and the ventricles (the bottom chambers).

Heart blocks are graded as first, second or third degree, depending on severity.

George rose to fame in the early 2010s, with bandmates Siva Kaneswaran, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Tom Parker.

The Wanted announced a break in 2014 - and in 2022, George and Kaneswaran relaunched as a duo.

George also appeared in Strictly Come Dancing, in 2020.

Parker died from brain cancer, aged 33, in March 2022.