Max George reveals he suffered first mental health breakdown when The Wanted hit number one

The Wanted's Max George has opened up on how his mental health suffered severely when the band first found success.

The 32-year-old has recently shared that he's been battling with depression since 2010 after the group, which also featured Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes, shot to fame with their debut single All Time Low.

George told Hello! magazine: "It doesn’t matter what you do or who you are, you can literally have everything you want, but as success happened, mentally I was breaking down.

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“My first proper episode was when The Wanted went to number one. I’d achieved everything I had ever wanted but I couldn’t handle how it exploded so fast.

“It is a question I have been asked before, if I’d had any problems in my life with mental illness and, to be honest, I have not told the truth. I always would say no."

George added it had taken him a "long time" to come to term with accepting his problems and to subsequently open up to loved ones about them.

He told the publication it was a "physical illness" for him as well as a mental one which led to feelings of claustrophobia and sickness.

After the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2014, he underwent brain scans and tests but they showed there was nothing visibly physically wrong with George, who said he knew something was "badly wrong".

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His diagnosis of depression came while living in LA as he starred Glee.

George also said he had been supported by his girlfriend Stacey Giggs, ex-wife of footballer Ryan Giggs, while Caroline Quentin had helped him with his neves when they both competed on the 2020 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

With additional reporting by PA.

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