Busted star James Bourne has finally spoken out nine months after he pulled out of the band's tour due to illness.
Guitarist James, 42, was forced to pull out of the Busted vs McFly tour last September, just one day before it began in Birmingham, with his bandmates describing him as 'really [expletive] sick'.
Taking to Instagram in his last update in April, the singer revealed he was preparing to have "major surgery to extend his life" - but insisted "there is hope."
© Getty Images For Bauer MediaWhile James hasn't disclosed the exact details of his health issues, he has spoken about how taking a break from the band has allowed him time to work on his new album, Murder At The Gates, which he created for a new musical alongside American playwright Steven Sater.
"I didn't want my health to stop me from promoting this project because I've put 13 years of my life into it," he told the Sun. "There was a fear of not finishing it. But I knew I had to finish it and give this to the people."
© WireImage'With everything going on with my health, I have been given the gift of time. I was given a lot of time back when I wasn't touring. It was like turning a negative into a positive. It was such a shame to have to drop out from the tour, because I love touring so much.
"But you have to turn negative into positive. They're the conversations I've had with my closest friends. I wanted to take the time I'd been given and deliver this album."
The new album will be released on 1 July, and also features Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo.
His latest update comes after his Instagram profile was deleted earlier this month.
Hard decisions
James' fellow Busted bandmate, Matt Willis, previously described how difficult it was to tour without James, and even considered cancelling their appearances.
"It was a real shame," he told Metro. "We've never done a show without James, and it was really hard. There was a real moment of 'Are we gonna do this or not? Should we do this?'
© Instagram"We were talking to him, and he was like: 'You should still do it, I just can’t be there.' It was a really difficult time for us. It all happened so quickly."
"It was strange; it was weird. I don’t ever want to do it again," he added. "It was a weird tour. It was still great, we put on as good a show as we could, but we were definitely missing something."
James' brother Chris stepped in to replace him and toured with the Busted’s other two members, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson.
