Childhood & Early Life
He was born on September 6, 1988, in Manchester, England, United Kingdom in the family of Mark and Barbara George as their youngest son among two. His older brother Jack works as a visual effect coordinator.
There is not much information available on the early life and education of Max excepting that he was raised in Manchester and attended the independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester called the Bolton School.
While growing up he developed interest in sports which eventually led him to commence his career as footballer. He played with the Preston, Lancashire based professional football club called Preston North End Football Club and was about to sign a two-year deal with the club. However an unfortunate accident compelled him to end his football career.
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Career
Unable to continue his career as footballer, Max who also developed love for music and dancing resolved to pursue career in music. In 2005 he joined the English boy band ‘Avenue’.
In 2006 ‘Avenue’ applied to participate in the third series of the British television music competition ‘The X Factor’. They sang a cappella version of Will Young’s song ‘Leave Right Now’. The band cleared passed the bootcamp round and the judges' houses round following which Louis Walsh became their mentor.
Originally ‘Avenue’ was selected to go through to the live finals as one of the 12 finalists of ‘The X Factor’. They also signed a management contract with the series. However they were later disqualified from the show after it was found that they already had an existing record contract with a management firm who by that time had no involvement with ‘The X Factor’. Eton Road replaced them as one of the 12 finalists.
After leaving ‘The X Factor’, ‘Avenue’ signed with recording label Crown Music Management and eventually received an album deal with Island Records.
The band came up with their debut single, ‘Last Goodbye’ in 2008 which peaked at #50 on the UK Singles Chart. The single found place on compilation albums ‘Pop Party 6’, ‘Dance Mania Party’, ‘Clubmix,’ and ‘Floorfillers’. That year Max featured nude on the cover of the British lifestyle digital magazine AXM’s naked issue to support cancer research.
‘Avenue’ had plans for a February 2009 tour which was later cancelled. Their second single ‘Can You Feel It?’ didn’t have a commercial release and was later distributed as a free single on the digital music and radio services platform ‘7digital’. ‘Avenue’ was disbanded in April that year.
Following his stint with ‘Avenue’, Max took part in a mass audition in 2009 held by Jayne Collins in pursuit of forming a boy band. Max along with Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker, Nathan Sykes and Siva Kaneswaran were chosen as the five members of the band among thousands in the audition.
The band which was eventually named ‘The Wanted’ with time thrived in gaining fame and recognition with chart topping singles and successful albums. It spawned three studio albums namely ‘The Wanted’ (2010), ‘Battleground’(2011) and ‘Word of Mouth’(2013); two extended plays ‘iTunes Festival: London 2011’ (2011) and ‘The Wanted: The EP’(2012); and ten singles.
On July 25, 2010, the band released their debut single ‘All Time Low’ through Geffen Records as the debut single of their self-titled debut studio album ‘The Wanted’ which released later on October 22 that year. The single peaked atop the UK Singles Chart and the Scottish Singles Chart and at #13 in the Irish Singles Chart. The second single of the album ‘Heart Vacancy’ released on October 17 that year debuted at #2 on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at #18 on the Irish Singles Chart.
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Album ‘The Wanted’ debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #4 and on the Irish Albums Chart at #11. The other single of the album that garnered UK chart success was ‘Lose My Mind’ that released on December 26, 2010 and climbed at #19 on the UK Singles Chart and at #30 in the Irish Singles Chart.
Eventual success of the band led them to come up with the American reality television series ‘The Wanted Life’. The series premiered on E! on June 2, 2013, and ran for a season encompassing 8 episodes till July 14 of that year. It chronicled the band as they recorded their third album ‘Word of Mouth’ and planned for the ‘Word of Mouth Tour’, their first ever world tour that they commenced later in February 2014.
‘The Wanted Life’ garnered a Teen Choice Awards nomination in 2013 in the category Choice TV Male Reality Star and had its international premiere on E! Australia on July 9, that year.
Meanwhile Max became the new face and spokesmodel of the fall line of Buffalo denim in June 2013. He featured along with Sports illustrated swimsuit model, Hannah Davis in the campaign. He also did an underwear campaign for Buffalo in November that year. Since that year he is signed with Los Angeles, California based American talent and sports agency Creative Artists Agency.
On January 22, 2014, members of ‘The Wanted’ announced that they have resolved to take a hiatus to undertake individual pursuits and shall work together again sometime in the future. That month Max disclosed through an interview that American talent manager and businessman Scooter Braun who owns media and record company Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG) and American record label School Boy Records has signed him as a solo artist.
He stepped into the world of acting with the Fox aired American musical comedy-drama television series ‘Glee’. He featured as an antagonist named Clint in 6 episodes of the sixth season of the series starting from January 9, 2015.
It was declared on February 2, 2015, that Max became a part of the reality television survival show ‘Bear Grylls: Mission Survive’ presented by Bear Grylls. The show that featured 8 celebrities including Max on a twelve-day survival mission premiered on February 20, 2015, on ITV. Max was the first celebrity to be eliminated. He got eliminated on the second episode of the show on February 27, 2015 due to safety concerns.
Personal Life
In December 2010, while performing in one of his concerts, Max met English actress Michelle Keegan, best known for her portrayals in British TV series’ ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘Our Girl’. The two got engaged but parted ways in 2012.
He started dating Danish model Nina Agdal in 2013, however broke up with the Sports Illustrated model in February 2014. He confirmed in October that year that he is romantically associated with Carrie Baker, a contestant of Miss Oklahoma competition.
