The Busted Love Test!

Busted’s latest single 'You Said No' documents a tale of rejection in love. So, we thought we'd quiz the band on their love lives and find out just where they're going wrong with the ladies!

Are you happy chatting up a girl you like, or would you wait for her to make the first move?
Matt: I never chat up girls. I'm an outrageous flirt sometimes, but I never just go up and start chatting to some random girl. It's a bit cheesy.
James: I would go after a girl, but not in that 'chat up' way. And I’d leave my mates out of it. If I like a girl I never get any of my mates involved in it. Because if it didn't happen, I wouldn't want my mates to know! So I keep it quite hush hush.
Charlie: I have to have grounds. I want to know that she's interested before I go up to her. I'd always speak to her mates. I never go in without realising there's a chance because you might crash and burn. The experience in the song is exactly what happened to me. It's originally based on that. I got crucified on the dance floor!
James: Charlie asked her if she wanted to dance, and she said 'I'll just go and get my friends!'

And you need to ask where you're going wrong? Someone's got to make the first move boys. A very poor start: 1

Have you got any chat up lines you can share with us?
Matt: Yes I have! You're a girl in a bar and I walk up to you and say 'Haven't I seen you before? Your face is in the dictionary next to the world 'Kerblam'!

Well, it's original, but is it effective?: 3

Can you cook, and if you had your girl round what would you cook for her?
Matt: Stacks and stacks of pancakes.
Charlie: I can cook chicken pasta with white sauce.
Matt: The other day I cooked tagliatelle from scratch! The carbonara sauce and everything. But I didn't make the pasta.
James: I make a mean milkshake!

Not bad as a combined effort: 3.5

What would be your perfect romantic evening?
Charlie: Sitting on the dock of a bay, watching the tide roll away! Which bay? Asked Otis!
James: Lying with a girl on a summer's evening, chilling on the balcony somewhere overlooking a swimming pool and a beach! And a meal.
Matt: In 'American Pie', in the last scene with the football hero Chris Klein, where they're looking out on a lake with blankets. I want to re-create that moment with exactly the same girl - Meena Suvari. She is very, very fit.

Sounds like we've got a bunch of romantics in our midst. Keep it up boys: 4

When you've got a girlfriend, how many times a day do you tell her you love her?
James: Not too many times. Just when you think she needs to hear it.
Matt: Or when you just want to say it, when she does something special.
James: I'm not really into telling a girl I love her all the time. Because otherwise it's not special when you say it. I want to mean it when I say it, and I want it to be able to last in her thoughts so I don't need to say it all the time.
Charlie: I agree. I probably tend to say it too much. I always mean it when I say it though.

Good answers boys. Girls certainly don't like being gushed over too much. But don’t make her wait too long: 4

What's the most romantic thing you've ever done?
Charlie: Had a bath complete with rose petals and candles and a nice bucket of champagne. It was Easter last year. I'm not with her now, but it was damn good!
James: I took a girl away for a weekend. She wanted to go into this restaurant for a romantic meal. But I wasn't allowed in - I have this tendency to wear three-quarter length trousers. They were smart ones, but the guy on the door wouldn't let me in. So I went out and pulled them down and pulled my T-shirt down over them to make them look like trousers and I got in! And then I ordered all the best food. And the waiter was really impressed with my choice of wine. That was last summer.
Matt: I whisked a girl off to Barcelona for New Year.

And those girls got rid of you! Sounds like they didn't know how good they had it. Top points: 5

Have you got a habit that really annoys the ladies?
James: I've been told that sometimes when I'm hugging a girl for a long time, I'll still be doing a rhythm with my teeth and they can hear it in their ear - I can't get away from music!
Matt: I do a lot of tapping. I tap all the time. I've done it since I was about six.
Charlie: I always play air drums. And then in the hockey goal, I play guitar with my stick!

We can see why chattering teeth and rhythmic tapping didn't go down well! Try putting the music to one side occasionally boys: 2

On a scale of one to ten, how tidy are you?
Matt: Charlie is the messiest person I have ever met in my life by far.
Charlie: The last girl I went out with shouted at me. But I don't care. It's something I'm not bothered about to be honest. If it's invading their space, then fine, but if it's my own space then that's fine too.
Matt: I agree with that - in my own space I can do whatever the hell I want, but, if it's involving the rest of the area, like it was when Charlie lived with us, then that's not good.
James: I'm the opposite. I'm not a tidy freak, and I won't take the time and effort to tidy something if it's effort gone to waste, but I'm really good at keeping stuff tidy. I'll tidy my room once, and it will stay tidy for three months. I used to tidy rooms round the house when I was bored!
Matt: James' room is spotless!

We think Charlie and James cancel each other out!: 2.5

When you have an argument with your girlfriend are you usually the one who apologises?
James: I never apologise.
Matt: I quite like being stubborn. If I've done nothing wrong then I will not apologise, no way. It's the ultimate love breaker to be overly apologetic. Girls like a challenge basically.
Charlie: It drags on for too long when I do that.

Thank God for Charlie! Come on boys, swallow that pride once in a while and you never know what might happen: 2

What music would you play to impress a girl?
Charlie: I tell you what's a winner - Norah Jones!
James: That's really nice love-making music.
Matt: I once went round a girl's house and she put on Alicia Keys and I had to listen to that for an hour! It's so boring.
Charlie: But it is a major female artist the girls like.
James: A lot of girls like Britney. Girls like it when girls take over the world!

Good knowledge, but a little more enthusiasm might not go amiss!: 3

If you could go out with a member of a current girl band/solo artist who would it be?
Charlie: Probably Britney. It was J.Lo, but she's got a big arse. Cheryl from Girls Aloud is fit.
Matt: She is so fit. Feisty, but I like that. And Jessica from Liberty X is fit.
Charlie: I hated her dreads. She looks much better now. And Kelly's really sweet.
James: I was speaking to Nadine from Girls Aloud last night, and she's nice.

Lots to choose from then! But we like your selection: 4

Do you generally get chucked or do the chucking?

Matt: I've only ever had a few girlfriends, and with every single one, I have done the chucking. Which is awful.
Charlie: I've only dumped two girls in my life. And I've been dumped about four times.
James: I did the chucking twice. And then another time, I knew that it wasn't working out and I couldn't be bothered to do the chucking, because I knew it was coming.

Charlie gets the sympathy vote, but Matt spoils it for us! A poor: 2

What's the longest relationship you've ever had?
Charlie: Three years.
James: Years.
Matt: Six months.

Very respectable on all counts: 4

How do you deal with rejection when you've been chucked?
Charlie: I cry like a girl. No, but I have cried before. It depends how closely attached I get. I delve deep into relationships.
James: Charlie will write a really depressing song.
Matt: I'd probably just get on with it. As long as you can understand it.
James: Write a song to slate her so you feel better!

A very healthy attitude from Matt, but the other two let you down we’re afraid!: 2.5

What do you think makes an ideal girlfriend?
James: A girlfriend that understands you can't be there all the time.
Matt: I used to really get annoyed with popstars going out with popstars, the whole music industry thing, but then I do understand why it happens, because they do understand your life.

A case of 'watch this space'? It'll make for interesting reading anyway!: 3

If you fancied a girl and she already had a boyfriend, what would you do?
Matt: It's all fair game. It's her decision. Although you've got to sum up the possibility of whether he's a massive geezer who's going to come and find you! But if it's your mate, you don't do it.
James: You've got to assess the situation. If there was a girl that I really, really liked and I could see that she was perfectly happy in her relationship, then what's the point? Plus, they wouldn't want you. I try not to get involved.
Charlie: Her just thinking 'I want to pull that person' has already committed the crime. You're just carrying out the procedure.

We're not sure how watertight the morals are here, but it does take two to tango: 3

Have you been linked with anyone in the music business yet?
Charlie: I was linked with Heidi from The Sugababes. It was half true. It was a tiny thing that exploded.
Matt: I've never been mentioned by any celebrity woman! Nobody wants me in the music industry. I really hope I am soon though!
James: I've never really been linked to anybody famous.

Come on boys, we need a bit more gossip than that! Call yourselves celebrities?: 1

THE RESULTS: The boys scored a collective 49.5 out of a possible 85 which won’t bowl over any of you hardened romantics out there, but remember, these boys are in a band, and need to keep up the street cred! We’re banking on some serious celeb gossip coming from the Busted camp soon though! Watch this space.

'You Said No' is released on 21st April, 2003. For more information on Busted, visit their official site at http://www.busted.com