Glee, Strictly and babies: This is what the guys from The Wanted are doing now

In our early teenage years our main boyband obsession had to be One Direction. There’s no denying we all wanted a bit of Harry Styles, but for some of us One Direction shared a place in our hearts alongside The Wanted.

They were the edgier, scruffier band who wore those awful combat boots and had us singing “I’m Glad You Came” age 11. They were, apart from Nathan Sykes, older and taller than the likes of Louis and Zayn.

The One Direction boys, let’s face it, definitely stopped The Wanted from becoming huge and yet they were usually always beefing. Remember when Zayn called Max “chlamydia boy”? Classic times.

After only being together for a few years The Wanted broke up and all of our hearts were crushed. A few of the boys like Jay have still been in the public eye, he won Strictly Come Dancing, it doesn’t get more famous than that in Britain. Whereas others like Tom and Siva have slowly disappeared off the map and not done a lot. They’ve teased coming back together but for the moment all we have is re-watching old YouTube videos of Heart Vacancy.

Here’s where the boys of The Wanted are now:

Nathan Sykes

Nathan Sykes was literally every 13-year-old girl’s crush and he could actually sing. So props to him. Now Nathan somehow looks even younger than when we were all obsessed with him.

After The Wanted went on hiatus Nathan did that song with Ariana Grande and they went out for five months. He was sadly left off Thank You Next. I don’t think he’ll really mind as he’s got a girlfriend called Charlotte Burke and they seem very loved up.

In 2015 he launched his first solo single and went on a sold out UK tour. After that he released a few more singles including one called “Give It Up” and the music video for it was banned from TV for being “too sexual”. Who would have thought?

Nathan was the support act on Little Mix’s 2016 tour and also toured with Alessia Cara. Recently he said on Twitter he will be releasing more music at some point this year. He’s also done a lot of work with children’s charities. I always knew I liked him.

Jay McGuiness

Jay has definitely done the best out of The Wanted boys since the band ended. A year after they went on a break Jay appeared in Strictly Come Dancing where he won the Glitter Ball trophy and did one of the best dances in the show’s history. Seriously watch it for yourself.

After winning Strictly Jay has appeared in two stage shows. In 2018 he was in Rip it Up the 60s which was performed in the London Palladium alongside Harry Judd, Aston Merrygold and Louis Smith. So basically a member from all the old boybands and an Olympian.

Jay was also the lead role in the stage show BIG The Musical alongside Kimberley Walsh. And after lockdown he will performing in a show called “Sleepless” also with Kimberley. He took part in Celebrity Hunted alongside bandmate Siva in 2017 and they won the show.

Siva Kaneswaran

Shortly after The Wanted broke up, Siva got engaged to his girlfriend Nareesha and the two are now married and living in Los Angeles.

Siva competed with Jay on Celebrity Hunted where they won and in 2019 Siva took part in Celebs on The Ranch. He’s done a bit of work with music since The Wanted. He wrote the Eurovision song for the British entry in 2016 and he launched his first solo single in 2019.

Most importantly Jay and Siva are still mates and even have their own hashtag, #jiva. My heart can’t take it. Siva attended a number of Black Lives Matter protests and is doing shout out videos on Cameo.

Max George

So when The Wanted were at their peak Max was one of the older members of the band and engaged to Michelle Keegan for a bit. Now he’s in a relationship with Ryan Giggs’ ex wife Stacey, who is 10 years older than him and they’re apparently buying a £1million house together.

Max’s biggest work gig since The Wanted ended has to be appearing on six episodes of Glee. Yes that’s right Max was on Glee, with hair, as the leader of Vocal Adrenaline. Please see the video below if you don’t believe me.

Max also appeared on Bear Grylls: Mission survive in 2015 and is now working as an International Artist Liaison at JD Sports. Whatever that means.

Max is set to appear on the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, will he be as good as Jay though?

Tom Parker

Ok so first of all Tom is now blonde. He’s also married to Kelsey Hardwick and they have a baby daughter and another child on the way. There was a bit of beef around his wedding day as Max and Jay attended but Nathan and Siva did not.

Tom said they were both invited and he wanted them to be ushers but after an initial email and asking for their suit measurements, Nathan didn’t reply and Siva said no.

After The Wanted ended Tom went on Celebrity Masterchef where he reached the semi finals. In 2016 he took part in the reality show The Jump. Tom went on to play the role of Danny Zuko in the UK tour of Grease in 2017.

Sadly Tom has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and is currently undergoing treatment in an effort to prolong his life.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

•From Misha B to Diana Vickers: Where are X Factor’s most iconic finalists now?

•Every salty thing Zayn ever did that proved he hated being in One Direction

•This is how much all the One Direction boys are worth now, from most to least minted