Busted star gives worrying James Bourne health update after he quit tour

James Bourne's Busted bandmate told fans he's "really f***ing sick" on the opening night of their joint tour with McFly last night. It comes after James announced that he was forced to pull out of the gigs just hours before the first show.

The two bands have launched the Busted vs McFly tour this week, which sees them come together for a number of shows. The tour opened at the bp pulse LIVE arena in Birmingham last night, ahead of a second show there tonight.

Ahead of opening night, James said in a statement that he was "not in good enough health" to perform on the tour. In a sad statement, the musician said that he was hopeful he'd make it to join his pals "further down the line".

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His sudden absence was addressed at the first show last night. Footage shared on social media shows Matt Willis speaking about the absent Busted member whilst on stage with their bandmate Charlie Simpson at the venue.

Matt told the audience: "Okay, you may have noticed our best friend is not here tonight. James Bourne is really f***ing sick and we love him and we miss him."

The singer, who has been in the band with James and Charlie since Busted formed in the early 2000s, continued: "This is the first show we've ever played without him and it's really weird." Matt added: "But we're gonna do the best we can."

Matt said that it "happened f***ing fast," before telling the audience: "Health is wealth." He said that James' bandmates told him to look after himself. Matt continued by saying that they asked James if he wanted them to not do the tour. He told the audience that James gave his blessing for the shows to go ahead without him though.

He recalled telling James: "We're gonna get someone else to play guitar on some songs because we're gonna miss something." Charlie teased that James hadn't wanted one of McFly to cover for him. Matt then announced that James' younger brother Chris Bourne would be joining them instead, telling the audience: "You might recognise this little guy from the Year 3000 video."

In a statement shared just days ago, James said: "The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in Birmingham and as excited as l've been all year for this tour to begin, I'm really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am not in good enough health to play these shows."

James continued by telling fans that the decision was made with his bandmates. He said: "There's a lot of information I still don't have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on the medical stuff for now."

He concluded by saying in the statement: "I really hope I can be in a position to come back further down the line. It's still going to be an amazing show and I will miss being there! See you all as soon as possible."

Following the opening night, Busted vs McFly is scheduled to be in Birmingham again tonight, before heading to venues in locations such as London, Cardiff, Newcastle and Liverpool. It's due to conclude in Nottingham in November.

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