‘We’ve got the whole world ahead of us’ – Maisie Smith opens up about future with Max George after his heart scare as her mum urges them not to marry too soon and reveals the real reason behind their decision to wait - suong

WHEN The Wanted singer Max George woke up from life-saving heart surgery, his girlfriend Maisie Smith was at his ­bedside.

But despite going through the terrifying ordeal together, former EastEnders star Maisie has revealed that the couple are in no rush to tie the knot.

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In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, the actress said the pair, who met on Strictly Come Dancing in 2020, want to travel the world before they finally walk down the aisle.

Maisie, 23, said: “I’m still a baby!

“We have so much time — we have got the whole world, a whole life.

“Now Max is getting better and stronger and fitter. And we are ready to start an exciting next chapter of our time together.”

Asked if Max’s operation has put life into perspective, Maisie said: “It really has, and I think we both want to be more impulsive, have fun, travel the world, see new things and make friends.

“It is all the things you put off because of work or stress, and we are just like, ‘Do you know what? Anything could happen at any moment — let’s just enjoy our life and time together’. So that is what we are doing.”

Max, 36, was fitted with a pacemaker in December last year after his mum Babs realised he had “turned blue” and pushed for him to go to A&E.

Fearing he would die in ­hospital just days before Christmas, Max wrote out a will on his iPhone.

Weeks later, he secretly went under the knife again after the device’s wires were ­fitted too deeply, causing Max to experience “flickering sensations”.

He told The Sun on Sunday: “I was trying to get back to good health, but was still having a flickering sensation for weeks after I had my pacemaker fitted and it was gradually getting worse and worse.”

Max was told the procedure could cause a dangerous bleed on his heart, revealing: “The night before, I was really nervous.

“I didn’t sleep much.”

The singer was forced to postpone The Wanted 2.0’s Manchester Cathedral concert alongside bandmate Siva Kaneswaran in February due to his health setback.

But in March, Max returned to the stage to play tortured priest Parson Nathaniel in a musical version of HG Wells’ classic book, The War Of The Worlds.

And Maisie was also by his side at the Connexin Live venue in Hull as she portrayed his wife, Beth.

Asked about Max’s current health at the Tric Awards in London, last month, Maisie said: “He’s good.

“He’s getting stronger every day.

“We weren’t even sure if he was going to be able to do The War Of The Worlds, but he’s just been so strong and he’s been training every day, getting his body fit and strong and ready — he’s good.”

Of their summer plans, Maisie added: “We’re going to go to France — it’s exactly what we need.

“Just us two, I can’t wait.”

‘Ticks all the boxes’

Maisie and Max became good friends while competing on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2020.

Two years later their friendship blossomed into romance and Maisie relocated from her home town in Essex to move in with Max in Manchester.

However, their 13-year age gap caused the couple to face a backlash on social media.

Speaking to Fabulous magazine in 2023, Maisie said: “If it wasn’t that, it would be something else.

“People don’t understand what goes on behind closed doors in a relationship, and I think they also forget that I’m a consenting 21-year-old woman who’s actually been working longer than Max.

“I don’t notice the age difference and neither do my friends or family.

“My mum Julia is the one who reads through all the comments.

“I got a message from her yesterday saying, ‘Just ignore them, you two were made for each other’.”

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Speaking alongside Maisie at the Tric Awards, Julia said of Max: “He’s absolutely gorgeous.

“He’s charming, he’s lovely, he’s generous.

“He ticks all the boxes.”

But Julia, who is also mum to daughter Scarlett, 28, said Maisie should concentrate on enjoying her life before saying, “I do”.

Asked if she could see the pair getting married soon, she said: “Too young.

“It is not so much on the radar now with this generation.”

Julia, who shares her daughters with husband Stephen Smith, said: “I was married at 25, but I just don’t feel like they need to go and conquer the world instead.”

Yet despite finding love on the dancefloor, Maisie said Max has hung up his ballroom shoes after finishing in ninth place on the series.

Maisie, who was a fan favourite on the series and took the runner-up spot, said: “Max doesn’t dance.

“I have made him do some TikTok dances, but he doesn’t enjoy them.”

 

I loved singing and being in The War Of The Worlds with him. It was so nice to get to train together, perform together.

Maisie Smith

However the actress, who released her first single, Good Thing, in 2016, said she loved singing alongside Max in The War Of The Worlds.

Max shot to fame with The Wanted after they formed in 2009, and went on to have a string of hits and two UK No1 tracks with All Time Low and Glad You Came.

Speaking about making music together, Maisie said: “Do you know what?

“We actually joke about it all the time.

“But I’d never . . . he’s in his band and he has his solo music.

“But if I were to do it, I’d probably be a solo artist.”

She continued: “I loved singing and being in The War Of The Worlds with him.

“It was so nice to get to train together, perform together.

“It’s like, you never get to do it with your partner.”

Maisie presented the award for Best Soap Actor to EastEnders actor Steve McFadden — best known for playing Phil Mitchell — at the Tric Awards.

But despite her confidence on screen, Maisie said she does not intend to pursue a career as a TV or radio presenter.

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She admitted: “I’ll be honest with you.

“No. I can’t — I get so nervous, I’m still young.

“But give me a script and I will knock it out the park!”

It was in 2006 when five-year-old Maisie landed her first role as a young Elizabeth I in the movie The Other Boleyn Girl, which also starred Natalie Portman.

Within two years, she had won the part of Tiffany Dean (later Butcher), daughter of Bianca (Patsy Palmer) and Ricky (Sid Owen), in EastEnders.

After leaving in 2014 to focus on a pop career, Maisie returned as a regular for four years until 2022.

But she said that the soap will always hold a special place in her heart after catapulting her to fame.

On a return to Albert Square, she said: “It is just one of those places that you would never say no to.

“I am never going to say I am not going to go back, but right now I am doing a lot of stage work and roles that I am really enjoying.

“But EastEnders is like home – it is the kind of place that is always going to be there.”