Max George admits The Wanted were in a "good place" before they went their separate ways but there was "nothing" they could do to stop it.
The 30-year-old singer found fame as a member of the British boy band until they went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014.
The five-piece – completed by Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes – completed their ‘Word of Mouth Tour’ and a hit with ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ before, but Max hinted that their extended break was down to their record label.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "Our last single ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ was number two and we’d been away for a while so we were delighted with that and then we did a world tour just following that.
"I thought we were in quite a good place but there was nothing I could do about it and again, when you’re with a record label, it’s not up to you."
And Max hasn’t ruled out a reunion with the group and insisted they may have a "conversation" within the next year to see if they can reunite.
He added: "I don’t see why not, I’ve always said that I’d do [a reunion with The Wanted] it.
"I haven’t spoken to a couple of the lads in four years so I don’t know where their heads are at.
"Me certainly, and I know one or two of the other lads would probably do it, so we might have a conversation in the next year."
The ‘Glad You Came’ hitmaker – who set up his own record label named SilverMAX – went on to admit that he was inspired to create his own label because he wanted to have full "control" over his music and get to make the executive decisions.
He continued: "When I was signed to a major label as a solo artist, everything was just taking too long and when you can do it yourself, you can choose when stuff goes out and you can choose if you don’t want to do something.
"It was mainly that really, it was that reason where you have that control in what music you want to do and when it gets put out."
Max George’s single ‘Better On Me’ is out now.
Max George: The Wanted had no choice over indefinite hiatus
