Any chart of unlikely pop reunions would have Busted somewhere near the top. The early 2000s three-piece may not have been at each other’s throats but it was clear there was little appetite to work together again any time before the Year 3000.

But now it has happened – the two-time Brit winners are back and are set to play two shows at The O2 in Greenwich at the end of May and the Jockey Club Live’s Evening at the Races at Sandown Park in July.

Charlie, who left the band in 2005, said: “To be honest, all of us didn’t think it would happen again.

“I certainly didn’t. I said many times publicly that I didn’t think it would ever happen again.

“We sort of grew out of each other’s lives for a long time and we started reconnecting a couple of years back.”

The seeds of the reunion were planted when former bandmates Matt Willis and James Bourne called round Charlie’s house a couple of years ago to persuade him to rejoin. Though he declined, Charlie said it was an ‘embryonic moment’.

Charlie said: “I was hanging out with James and we were playing music to each other and we found we had this musical common ground that we didn’t think we had before.

“The whole thing has been a very organic process. We didn’t really think of the timing of it, it just felt like the right thing to do at that time so we rolled with it.”

Ten years after they went their separate ways, Charlie said they are getting on as well as ever.

He said: “It has actually been very easy. The vibe between us has been no strangeness. It is just straight back where we left off, which is nice.”

For Charlie, the prospect of new music was key to his participation. He left the band a decade ago because Busted weren’t making the music that satisfied him creatively at that time and now he has the chance to move the band’s sound on.

While the three were reconnecting – and before the reunion was officially announced – they recorded what will be their third album when it is released in the autumn.

Charlie said: “We’re very focussed on the tour right now. That’s coming first but then we are working on new music and that is going to be a very exciting thing for us to get people reactions to.

“It is pretty different. It is going to be unexpected but I think people know to expect the unexpected.

“I think people will be expecting something different. We just set out to write some good songs because at the base of it, that’s what we try to do.

“Regardless of how it sounds sonically, we’re just trying to make it as big as it can be.”

Fans will have to hang on for the album, but the chance to catch one of the last decade’s biggest bands live is only just around the corner.

Charlie said: “It’s going to be fun to be out on the road again.

“I think the band ended quite abruptly for some people, even though I knew a while before that it wasn’t right for me at the time. It will be nice for them again ten years on.”

When James and Matt toured with McFly as McBusted from 2013 to 2015, they became known for their show-stopping live performances featuring giant inflatable triple boobs, flying DeLoreans and levitating spaceships (references to their song Year 3000) and Charlie said Busted are planning big once again.

He said: “It was crazy, man. It’s pretty nerve-wracking putting shows this big and we had no idea what the reaction would be like.

“We found out that the first wave of shows had sold out and we’re adding extra shows – that’s a great feeling. It’s pretty overwhelming.

“We like to put a lot of energy into the show. The great thing is we sat down at the beginning of the process and anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it.

“We have built something quite unique on this tour. I think it is going to be quite effective.”

Busted’s Pigs Can Fly tour is at the O2 on May 27 and 28 and the band plays Jockey Club Live’s An Evening at the Races at Sandown Park Racecourse on July 20. Go to axs.com or thejockeyclublive.co.uk

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