Max George tearfully admitted that he will never be able to cope with the death of his bandmate Tom Parker as he credited him for making his life better.
In the heartbreaking scenes that will appear in Wednesday’s episode of Scared Of The Dark, The Wanted star, 34, discussed the loss of his best friend.
Tom passed away last March at the age of 33, 18 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer, shortly before his death he embarked on a greatest hits tour with his band.
On the Channel 4 show, Max was comforted by Paul Gascoigne after breaking down in tears while revealing that he will ‘never be okay’ with Tom’s death.
Thinking back to when he found out, he said, “His second child was due a week after he was diagnosed. He had glioblastoma, which is an incurable brain cancer, but it was stage four when they discovered it.’
Max George, 34, tearfully admitted he will never be able to deal with the death of his bandmate Tom Parker as he praised him for making his life better
In the heartbreaking scenes set to appear on Wednesday’s episode of Scared Of The Dark, The Wanted star discussed the loss of his best friend (pictured together in September 2021)
Max continued, “I was shooting a movie and it was the last day of filming and my phone rang and it was Kelsey [Tom’s wife] and I was like “oh that’s a nice surprise”.
“But obviously it wasn’t and I couldn’t really understand what she just told me and I don’t think I accepted that.”
“But you know what was nice is that people from outside our group and friends, even them, came along to help. Ed Sheeran did too. Yeah, that probably saved Tom’s life for a year,” the singer added.
‘How do you deal with it? There’s no cure for that, so you just learn to get on with your life, I guess. But deal with it, absolutely not. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay with it, you know.
“One of the last things I said to him was, I thanked him for making my life so much better than it could have ever been, you know, like that whole journey of being in the band.
Struggling to talk through his tears, he said, “He was my best friend. F**k. I just don’t – I don’t – want it to be a burden or anything to anyone else.”
In Scared Of The Dark, celebrities live in complete darkness for eight days while participating in challenges.
Upset: Max was comforted by Paul Gascoigne on the Channel 4 show after breaking down in tears as he revealed he will ‘never be okay’ with Tom’s death
Tragic: Tom passed away last March at the age of 33, 18 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer. , center, with Tom’s coffin)
Max and Paul are joined by Chris Kamara, Nicola Adams, Scarlett Moffatt, Chris McCausland, Donna Preston and Chloe Burrows who live in darkness for 180 hours.
Any star who says “I’m afraid of the dark” can be released and leave the show, and the celebs have already struggled under the grueling circumstances.
Ahead of Wednesday’s show, Max shared on Twitter: ‘Apparently some pretty tough moments tonight on #ScaredOfTheDark.
“Not the place I would ever think of opening up… But sometimes you have to be in a different environment to let some things go. Btw… how classy is Gazza?!!!’
Elsewhere, the emotional Max revealed that he used alcohol to “adjust” to the spotlight and to ease his anxiety during his “lowest point ever.”
He was referring to an incident where he drank 10 pints and three bottles of wine in one night while celebrating his birthday.
The binge contained approximately 38 units of alcohol. The NHS recommends that men and women consume no more than 14 units per week.
Speaking of his drinking, he said, “I would always be p***ed before we performed. I had a hard time adjusting, so I drank to make myself feel like I wasn’t bothered.
Ahead of Wednesday’s show, Max shared on Twitter: ‘Apparently some pretty tough moments tonight on #ScaredOfTheDark’
“It’s kind of hard to differentiate between anxiety and depression sometimes, but mine was definitely more of the anxiety side that started when the guys hit number one with All Time Low.”
Referring to his birthday binge session, he confessed, “I was sick for a week. The doctor looked at my liver and said my liver count was quite low, I’m not messing with my liver. So I quit.’
He added that he was also inspired to quit drinking after learning of bandmate Tom’s stage four glioblastoma diagnosis.
Scared of the Dark airs over five nights from Sunday 16 April to Thursday 20 April at 9pm on Channel 4. The series ends tomorrow night.