The Wanted singer, 36, feared he would die before he could undergo pacemaker surgery. The Wanted’s Max George recently underwent surgery to have a pacemaker fitted (NHS England/PA)

The Wanted star Max George has recounted preparing for his own death from his hospital bed, convinced he would die before receiving lifesaving surgery to have a pacemaker fitted.

Speaking to The Sun in his first interview since the operation before Christmas, the 36-year-old shared the terror he felt after doctors discovered an irregularity with his heart.

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He said: “If I could go from being absolutely on top of the world to being told ‘the bottom part of your heart isn’t working’, I kept thinking in my head, ‘Well, what if the top half stops working overnight?’”

To add to his fears, he said he was by far the youngest patient on his ward, surrounded by patients at least three decades older.

He said he thought of his girlfriend, English actress Maisie Smith, 23, and his family and what would happen if the worst occurred.

“That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” the 36-year-old musician said.

“When you get told that, you really realise what your responsibilities are. I’ve got a partner, Maisie, I’ve got a family. I’ve got two little nephews and all of that stuff really comes to the front of it all.”

He said he took out his iPhone and wrote out his will, detailing what to do with his assets in case he did not make it.

The former Strictly Come Dancing star told The Sun that December 13 was the day he thought would be his last, as his heart rate and blood pressure dropped simultaneously.

“It was quite close that night, it really felt like my neck was closing up and that’s when the sort of panic really kicked in. I felt like I was dying. It was the worst, I felt emotional,” he said,

He recalled that he was “absolutely buzzing” when his surgery date was locked in for December 18.