Max George has spoken of his girlfriend Stacey Giggs’ support amid his battle with depression.
The former The Wanted star, 32, made an appearance on Monday’s Good Morning Britain, where he detailed his experiences with mental illness to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.
As well as opening up about the physical effects his depression had on him, Max also spoke about how his partner continues to help him through his illness whenever he has a ‘wobble’.
Appreciation: Max George has spoken of his girlfriend Stacey Giggs’ support amid his battle with depression
Speaking to Susanna Reid and Alistair Campbell on the ITV show, Max, who celebrated his two-year anniversary with Stacey, 41, in January, explained: ‘At the start, if I had a little bit of blip because it was new, she didn’t really know what to do.
‘But because it’s normal, mental illness is so normal and so many people have it, I tried to be as open with it with Stace.
‘She’d be like, “Are you having a bit of a wobble?” And I’d be like, “Yeah” and we’ll just leave it. I know it’ll go and she knows it’ll go. If we just act normally, it’ll go because I can talk about it now.’
In November last year, Max revealed that he is ready to settle down with his girlfriend Stacey, after they reunited following his stint on the hit BBC dance contest.
Candid: The former The Wanted star, 32, made an appearance on Monday’s Good Morning Britain, where he detailed his experiences with mental illness to mark Mental Health Awareness Week
He admitted that he has never ‘felt so strongly about anyone’ and is ready to have a baby with Stacey, the ex-wife of footballer Ryan Giggs.
Speaking to The Sun, he sweetly described his partner as ‘the one’ and said he is ‘extremely settled’ with her.
He told the publication: ‘I’d like to think this is it for me now, she’s the one, I’ve never felt so strongly about anyone.’
The loved-up star went on to explain that he would like to have a baby with Stacey but added that he is already content being a ‘family’ with her and her two children.
Great help: As well as opening up about the physical effects his depression had on him, Max also spoke about how his partner continues to help him through his illness whenever he has a ‘wobble’
Stacey already shares two children, Liberty, 17, and Zach, 14, with her ex-husband Ryan, 46.
Meanwhile on GMB, Make discussed the physical side that depression took on his body at the height of his fame in the boy band.
He said: ‘When The Wanted first took off, that’s when I started noticing changes. It was more physical at the start – rashes and what looked like acne on my back, I’d never had that before and it was weird to be getting it at the age I was at.
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Chat: Speaking to Susanna Reid and Alistair Campbell on the ITV show, Max explained: ‘At the start, if I had a little bit of blip because it was new, she didn’t really know what to do
Understanding: ‘She’d be like, “Are you having a bit of a wobble?” And I’d be like, “Yeah” and we’ll just leave it. I know it’ll go and she knows it’ll go’
‘So I was having treatment for that. And then I started to feel that I wasn’t enjoying the stuff that I loved the most.’
He then went on to discuss the differing feeling of finally achieving his dream and his feeling of depression at the same time.
He explained: ‘It was a weird position to be in, because I’d just started to achieve everything I wanted and being on stage in front of thousands of people – that was the best feeling I’d ever had, but at the same time, it was that that was causing me to feel the way I was feeling.’
The Glad You Came hitmaker went on to say that he didn’t speak of his feelings to the band and that his mental illness got worse after The Wanted broke up, as did the physical ailments.
He said: ‘I didn’t raise it. I probably just went out and drank and tried to forget about it. It got better for a while actually. The first year of The Wanted was quite bad and straight after The Wanted was probably the worst, just after I finished Glee.”
Max continued: ‘That’s when the physical side got the worse. I woke up one morning and felt my jaw had locked up. As soon as I went to get up, I was sick and I thought I had a bug. That went on for a week, then a month and it was like, “There’s something seriously wrong now.”‘
Struggles: Meanwhile on GMB, Make discussed the physical side that depression took on his body at the height of his fame in the boy band
Issues: ‘When The Wanted first took off, that’s when I started noticing changes. It was more physical at the start – rashes and what looked like acne on my back, I’d never had that before’ (The Wanted pictured in 2010)
Revealing how things had changed once he started to open up to people with how he felt, Max went on: ‘One morning, I was just at my Dad’s house and I woke up and I was like, “I feel alright today.” And I’ve been fine since.’
The former Strictly star added: ‘Talking about it now, it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable and nervous because it’s just not something I thought I’d do.
‘But talking does help me and it has done since day one, but the biggest thing from me about talking about it is the response I get from other people.’
Meanwhile Max spoke of his former band mate Tom Parker, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
On how Tom is doing he said: ‘I spoke to him a couple of days ago and he couldn’t have been better. He FaceTimed me last week and he was sat in the garden, having a beer in the sun. His spirits are really high. He’s looking forward to doing music. He’s just top.’
Mental battle: ‘ I didn’t raise it. I probably just went out and drank and tried to forget about it. It got better for a while actually. The first year of The Wanted was quite bad’
Source: Daily Mail
