I'm told Universal Music plan to drop the boyband after their third album Word Of Mouth proved to be a massive global flop.
I can reveal the final nail in the coffin came after their European tour was scrapped due to poor ticket sales - rather than "scheduling issues", which the band's management claimed.
The shock axing will come as a huge blow to Jay, Max, Siva, Tom and Nathan, who had a big international hit in 2011 with Glad You Came.
One Direction's main rivals have struggled to back up the single with another smash hit.
Their third album is currently hovering as low as 75 in the charts just six weeks after being released.
To put things into perspective, the record has so far sold around 40,000 copies in the UK - less than a single day's sales for One Direction's Midnight Memories.
1D have also sold more copies in a week in the UK alone, than The Wanted have in six weeks around the world.
My source said: "Despite high hopes that The Wanted would rival One Direction as worldwide stars, it just hasn't happened.
"Word Of Mouth has proved a monumental flop which has just about sealed their fate.
"The album was a disaster from start to finish. It had no direction and was delayed for over a year due to problems.
"No final decision has been made, but all promo for the album has been scrapped and no more singles are planned.
"There are also no plans to reschedule the cancelled European tour dates."
After ten Top 10 singles and two No.1s it would be a shame for The Wanted to become unwanted.
Let's hope their record label has a rethink!Source
I didn't even know they had a new album. Nathan's relationship with Ariana was more publicized than their new album.