Max George broke This Morning viewers' hearts on Tuesday when he admitted he still texts Tom Parker, in an emotional chat about his former bandmate who died earlier this year.
It was back in the autumn of 2020 that Tom revealed he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The northern singer made a promise to fans then that he'd be fighting it all the way and he certainly did, achieving his aim of joining The Wanted on stage for their reunion tour, including the poignant final date in Liverpool, which proved to be his last ever with the band as he died just weeks later.
In the immediate aftermath of Tom's passing, Max posted a lengthy Instagram post about him, saying he'd been honoured to know him and been left 'heartbroken beyond words' by his death. In the much commented on tribute, Max added: "Thank you for choosing me as your friend. It was an honour from day one. I’m so grateful I was with you until the very end. The courage and dignity I have witnessed over the last few months surpassed the lion I already knew you were."
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Max, who was recently a contestant on ITV's The Games, joined This Morning hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary in the studio for a candid chat about Tom and it was then he told them that he gets comfort from still messaging him.
Max explained: "I’m still trying to process it, I still text him actually. If I get pictures or stuff that fans have made with him in it or they send a nice message to do with Tom, I’ll WhatsApp it to him. I just find a bit of comfort in that. The worst bit is when I’m not doing it and I do it accidentally. Sometimes I go to do it and I’m like, ‘Oh no’.”
Max also looked back on the first time he ever met Tom, recalling: "“It was Manchester Piccadilly station. I saw him at the audition process for the band. He was the loud one from Bolton. He was always at the front, always asking questions. We walked in together and I just always remember thinking, ‘The scally from Bolton…’ and I was so happy he was in.”
He added, “Immediately me and him just hit it off. We had very similar backgrounds and we just became best mates. Within a week we were living in the same house and we did everything together.”
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