Boyband McFly star and talent show judge Danny Jones discusses health issue which made him 'fear he was dying'
Star of noughties boyband McFly Danny Jones has spoken candidly about his fear with anxiety, which left him fearing he was dying or having a heart attack.
The 38-year-old singer found fame of one quarter of boyband McFly in 2003. Then, in June 2019, he joined the judging panel of talent show The Voice UK and The Voice Kids.
Talking on the Official Charts: Take The Hit podcast, Jones opened up about suffering from anxiety when he began writing solo songs in 2018. He said: "The solo stuff took a while. It's been like therapy because growing up with whatever experiences you grow up with, it's hard to write about it. It's hard to go back and revisit it and understand why you've got anxiety; understand why you are who you are."
Jones went on to explain that his anxiety "hit" him when he was age 18, which was the same time that his parents' marriage broke up and his dad left the family. His anxiety then returned two years later when he was 20 years old.
He went on: "Yes I've had anxiety, yes I've been down about it, yes I don't talk to my dad anymore.”
Jones, who is lead guitarist and singer in McFly, have already spoken openly about his health issues. Talking to the Belfast Telegraph in 2019, he recalled his experience of anxiety attacks. "I haven't had an attack since 2013, which I'm very thankful about because at times it was so horrible.
“I experienced claustrophobia, coming out in cold sweats, feeling a band tightening around my chest and worrying I was having a heart attack. It's so scary and I've felt like I was dying on occasions. You can't believe your body can do that to you.” He also said he’d been plagued with "dark thoughts" that affected his "whole life" and said that admitting he was suffering from anxiety was the first step towards conquering it.
Jones also spoke about going to therapy to help deal with his health issue. He said: "I went to a little bit of therapy and the guy showed me a book he'd written about it and it seemed like it was just a pointless thing that your brain does to you, it's almost like a reaction to survival, your body wanting to panic and pass out and having those fears."
Jones is married to model and former Miss England, Georgia Horsley. The pair said ‘I do’ in August 2014, and their son Cooper was born in January 2018.