Busted star James Bourne has revealed he is having ‘major surgery’ to ‘extend his life’ as he shared a worrying health update six months after quitting the band’s tour.

James, 42, was forced to pull out of the Busted vs McFly tour in September, just a day before it kicked off in Birmingham, with his bandmates describing him as ‘really f***ing sick’.

Now in a concerning update, James has shared that he is preparing to have ‘major surgery to extend my life’ – but insisted ‘there is hope’.

Taking to his Instagram Story on Saturday, James, who rose to fame with his bandmates Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis in 2000, wrote: ‘I realised it’s been about six months since I posted last. 

‘I have a plan in place to have major surgery that should extend my life and hopefully make me well enough to come back to what I love the most which is touring and making music. 

‘It really sucks to be out of the game. But there is hope!’

As Busted appeared on stage for their first show of the tour last month, Matt Willis said: ‘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. 

‘This is the first show we’ve ever played without him and it’s really. But we’re going do the best we can. Health is wealth.’

James announced in a statement that he had to quit the tour due to health reasons.

He wrote on Instagram: ‘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 🙁 

‘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.

‘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.’ 

Busted and McFly reunited for a head-to-head joint tour throughout September, October and November.

Busted’s James, Charlie and Matt, said at the time of the announcement: ‘The whole tour is to find out who’s a better band. Fans can decide. 

‘They can come and support their band and they might change their mind. It’s going to be a fight to the death.’ 

Matt continued: ‘It has been a long time coming, this tour. Fans have wanted this. There’s a massive crossover in the fanbases but secretly I think everyone likes Busted more.’ 

Meanwhile McFly is made up of Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Harry Judd and Dougie Poynter.

Charlie, who had hits including Crashed The Wedding and You Said No with Busted, explained: ‘[McBusted] was a different thing. This is very much, we’re doing it as two different bands.

‘The way we’ve set up the show is different to a normal show. It’s not a co-headline tour and there are going to be some surprises along the way which people genuinely won’t have seen before.’

McFly achieved 18 consecutive UK top 20 singles, seven of which peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart. They also won the 2005 Brit Award for Best British Pop Act.

Meanwhile, Busted from Southend-on-Sea, enjoyed four UK number one singles, won two Brit Awards, and sold over five million records worldwide.

In 2013, the two bands combined to become a six-piece pop-punk supergroup called McBusted, albeit without lead vocalist and guitarist Charlie, who wanted to focus on his rock band Fightstar and a solo career.