Taken from Popworld - August 2003

You asked for it

When POPWORLD put a shout out on www.popworld.com for your questions for Busted, we braced ourselves for a deluge of replies. You didn't disappoint us. Among the things you wanted to know were: what deodrant do they wear, would they eat poo to spend a night with Britney and how many girls have they slept with? Oh, what fun they had..

The housing complex in northeast London that is home to James and Matt Busted is huge and very posh; Girls Aloud also live here, and sometimes can be spotted sweating it out in the complex's gym. It's an exciting time for Busted; the boys are about to set off on their first ever UK tour. But before they do, there are questions to be answered, sent in to POPWORLD by hordes of devoted fans.
We sit in the gym cafe, waiting for the arrival of Charlie. The tall, posh one moved out the boys' flat a few months ago; he now shares a place with his brother. After a short while, a blue Mini whizzes past the window. He's here. We get the call to go to the boys' flat; we ring the bell, wipe our feet on the Nellyville doormat and make our way up some stairs to a seating area on the first floor.
Matt and James are in the middle of a game of table football, although the latter admits he hasn't packed yet and they are due to leave in one hour. The walls of the flat are painted a deep red, there's a big TV in the corner and the light-coloured carpet has been stained by spilt drinks and trodden-in cigarette ash.
There's a plate on the floor bearing the chewed remains of some chicken drumsticks and a big black leather recliner (like Joey's in Friends) sits next to a black leather sofa. The sofa has white stains at one end which Matt informs POPWORLD is hair bleach from his recent dye job. He demonstrates what a state his new barnet is in by pulling at it and giving POPWORLD a tuft of yellow hair; he says he'll have to dye it one more time to get the pure white he's after. Charlie enters the room and takes the recliner, pulling back the arm rests in true Joey fashion so that his feet are now on the foot rest.
All three Busted boys are in a really giddy mood, not least because their first EVER tour bus is set to turn up any micute. Time to crack on with those questions, then..

Charlie, will all the abuse you get about your eyebrows make you pluck them? I love your eyebrows! RACHEL_RULES
James: Do you really think he's going to pluck his eyebrows? They're cool. Who wants thin eyebrows anyway? All those girls pluck their eyebrows and have nothing left and have to pencil them on..
Matt: Another magazine did a mock-up picture of Charlie with thin eyebrows, and he looked like a transvestite! It was the funniest thing.
Charlie: What makes me laugh is, why do people care? Why do people waste their breath talking about it? I've had some 'fashion' people saying they like my eyebrows. I don't give a s*** about them; they're just eyebrows.
Matt: The coolest thing about them is that they're slightly like furry caterpillars.
Charlie: Everyone fancies Colin Farrell and he has big eyebrows..

We all know you guys are fit, but which of you has the best body? Do any of you have fitness routines or visit the gym? CARLY
Matt: I go to the gym every morning. Er, not really. The only exercise I get is on stage.
James: I'm really awful in the gym, but once I lied to Cheryl [from Girls Aloud] when she asked me if I went there often. I wanted to be cool, so I was like, yeah. I don't think she thought I was cool at all.
Matt: James has quite a good bod. He lives on a burger for lunch and a pizza for dinner.
Charlie: He eats all that s*** and still doesn't get fat.
James: When I was younger, I did so much sport I had a really fast metabolism.
Charlie: Oh yeah, tell it to the judge..
Matt: We wouldn't take our tops off for photos.
Charlie: No, that's f***ing stupid.

If you had to be another member of the band for a day, who would you be, and why? STEPH
James: I'd like to be Charlie, 'cos I'd like to see what it's like to be so tall.
Matt: I'd love to be able to play the piano, so I'd like to be James. I'd love to see what goes on inside that boy's head.
Charlie: I'd have half a day as each other them. I'd be James because he's funny, and I'd like to be Matt 'cos I'd like to see if I could talk like I talk in Matt's body.

Matt, you recently went through a phase of wearing sunglasses all the time. Why? EEEWWWAAASSS
James: He was hiding some smudged eyeliner.
Matt: No, I wore them because I thought I looked cool.

If you were one of the characters in The Simpsons, who would you be? KYRSTIE_S
Charlie: Oh my God! [Laughs.] I would so have to be Bart. I would like to be Homer 'cos he's funny, but I could be Bart and watch Homer.
James: I would like to be Burns.
Charlie: James would be Millhouse.
James: I would like to be Millhouse.
Charlie: Matt would be Barney.
Matt: I would not be Barney, you f***er. I would be Troy McClure. [Puts on a Troy McClure voice] 'Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such infomercials as..'

How did it feel when you got to number one with 'You Said No'? Also, how does it feel to know you broke a record when your first three singles went into the chart at numbers 3, 2 and 1? PERDY
James: It's record-breaking stuff, man.
Matt: It's damn good s***!
James: I used to watch that programme Record Breakers. You know, [sings the theme tune] 'All it needs is dedication..' That's so right. [Sings again] 'Dedication is what you need.. if you're going to be a record breaker.'
Charlie: I kept saying to everyone in my family, I don't want you to think we're going to get a number one, because it's going to be a blow-out if we don't. And I kept telling James to stop saying we were going to be number one. So he celebrates the night before we were number one..
James: I was partying down the Chinese the night before and I rang up the boys to wish them a 'Merry Number One Eve'. I had 'number one' painted on my back in eyeliner. It looked really good.

What deodrant/perfume do you use? I'd wanna smell like Charlie any day! NAT
Charlie: I wear FCUK deodrant, and the fragrance I use is Acqua Di Gio.
Matt: Ooh, that's a difficult one.. I'm using that new Lynx anti-perspirant at the moment. I haven't bought Lynx since I was about 12; I'm usually a Right Guard man.
James: I don't use any. But I never smell of BO.
Matt: James doesn't sweat.
Charlie: James uses that new fragrance called 'BO'.

Who or what has been your inspiration to sing and write? You're the best in the world! CRUMPETS
James: That's nice of you to say. The world is our inspiration, Crumpets.

Matt, where do you get your sweat bands? DANNIELLE
Matt: I get a few from fans now. I had loads, but fans kept on stealing them. I used to go to touch someone's hand and my sweatbands would be gone. Then I moved on to my leather cuff thing and they just popped them off too.

How many girls have you slept with? I think you're all gorgeous! JENNY
James: I don't have numbers. Not loads. I just don't count.
Charlie: I've only slept with two girls. I've only had two serious girlfriends. I don't sleep around. The first time I had sex was when I was 14, with a girlfriend I went out with for a year. Then, when I was 15, I started going out with another girl. We were together for three years, and now..
Matt: Yeah, Charlie's no slut. I've not slept with that many. Just a few.

Would you eat poo for one night with Britney Spears? JACKASSROCKS
Charlie: I hate Britney now. She's like a dog's arse. I might take a teaspoonful to sleep with Tara Reid, though..
Matt: I'd rather eat a thousand worms than human poo.
James: I wouldn't do it for anyone.

Loads of girls fancy you, but have you ever kissed or been chatted up by a boy? ABBY
Matt: I once had a man slap me on the arse at [famous London club night] GAY.
James: No, and even if I was chatted up by a boy, I wouldn't even notice because I'm a bit thick like that.
Charlie: Brian Dowling once said he wanted to jupm on my face like this [Charlie jumps up and does a thrust].
James: Brian Dowling once kissed me on the face!

[picture of Ki, Owen, James and Matt]
Look at this pic I found. And we thought you were cool! Please explain. SOOZ1985
[They all crack up laughing]
Matt: That photo was taken when we were about 14. We were this terrible twosome, and we got these two other people involved, to write with us. So these two showed up, then we had a quick photo shoot taken in the back garden under a tree.
James: You can tell we're taking the p***, though!
Matt: As you can probably tell, that didn't last very long. It was about four days, I think.
Charlie: I would like to point out that I was not involved..

What would you do if you were invisible for a day? GEORGIE
Charlie: I would find out the secrets of the world and go to Area 51 [top secret US military site rumoured to house proof of alien visitations].
James: You wouldn't waste your powers of invisibility on going into girls' changing rooms or anything like that.
Matt: We see naked girls all the time. Girls flash their boobs while we are performing. It's the best thing.
Charlie: Why don't we ever get really fit birds flashing their tits? Like models?
Matt: I'm not a big breast man, anyway. I don't like big breasts.
Charlie: I don't like big arses. Big arses like J.Lo's aren't gonna work for me. Everyone says J.Lo's arse is the new fashion, but that's just bulls***.
James: That's just something that poeple with big arses say.
Matt: Only people who eat too much chocolate say big bums are the new thing.
James: How's it the new thing? How can that be good?
Matt: I like them nice and pert..
Charlie: Like a peach!

If you could record a song with any other star(s), who would you choose? GIRL 3000
James: I'd have Eminem rapping, Justin singing ad lib, Michael Jackson would be singing and dancing with Justin, Brian May [from Queen] would be my guitarist, Travis from Blink-182 would be on the drums, Jools Holland on the piano, and I'd have R Kelly's gospel choir.
Matt: I'd choose.. oh my God, it's the tour bus!

The boys are distracted by the sight of a huge tour bus pulling up outside their flat. They all run over to the window, excitedly. Gold in colour, with tinted black windows, the bus is the size of a luxury coach..
Charlie: Yes! Let me see it.. it's gold!
Matt: Don't know if I like the gold. I'd have preferred black.
Charlie: At least gold stands out more.
Matt: It's like a double decker bus, but with only one floor. You've got beds, DVD players..
Charlie: It's wicked!

But back to the questions, boys..
Matt: Oh yeah, I want to say my fantasy band. From the Foo Fighters, I'd have Taylor Hawkins on drums and Dave Grohl on guitar and vocals. And I'd have Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 on bass.
Charlie: Mine would have [singer] Chino Moreno and [guitarist] Steven Carpenter from the Deftones, and [drummer] Jimmy Chamberlain from the Smashing Pumpkins. And on bas.. I wouldn't want Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers - he's too funky.
Matt: I'd like to swap Mark Hoppus for Flea and have Tom Delonge from Blink-182 as my other guitarist.
Charlie: I'd have.. wait, wait, wait.. [shouts] Krist Novoselic from Nirvana! That's a good band.
James: Would you have me in your band?
Charlie: And I'd have James to play keyboards.

What is going on with you and Girls Aloud? Do you really hate each other? And do you regret what you said about Nicola? FIFI
Matt: Not really, 'cos she was rude. I'm bored of that s***, but she's still going on about it. [Following comments by Matt, Nicola performed at GAY wearing a skirt with the words 'I'm a rude ginger bitch.. Botherd!' Tippex-ed on the back.] 'Bothered' spelt wrong.. yeah, well done. It bores me. The other girls are really nice. Cheryl's wicked, and I fancy the pants off her. I don't reckon I'll get anywhere near any of them, though. I think I spoilt all my chances there.
Charlie: Yeah, Cheryl's OK. If she had some blonde highlights.
James: I disagree. I like the darkness.
Charlie: I like blonde.

If you could do something mischievous without any chance of being caught, what would you do and who would you do it to? ALISHA
Matt: At the beginning of the feud with Girls Aloud, it was their manager that really p***ed me off. I just though, if the manager says one more thing that p***es me off I'm gonna run up behind them when they're next at a premiere or party where there's loads of photographers and they're standing going [pulls pouty faces] and just yank Nicola's dress up, then run away.
Charlie: She'd have ginger pubes.

I know loads of girls ask you if you'd marry them. How old do you reckon you'll be when you get married? COOKIE_MONSTER
James: At an age where I'm a bit sorted, but not totally. I want to be quite young when I start that part of my life - 25, give or take a year.
Matt: Yeah, 25 to 27.
Charlie: I reckon 25 is the right age, then you're not an old parent. If you have kids at 29 or 30, you're too old.
James: You have to be young so you can play with your kids and be able to climb trees with them.
Matt: James is going to have a son called Blanket. [That's Michael Jackson's nickname for one of his children. Which leads us nicely to..]

James, we all know you're a huge fan of Michael Jackson, but would you let him babysit your children? LAUREN
James: Yeah, of course I would.
Matt: I can't imagine what James's children are going to be like.
James: My children are gonna be well good; I already know their names! I'm not saying what they are, though.
Matt: I know what I'm gonna call my son. He'll be called Jack, 'cos he's gonna be a lad, so Jack-the-lad.
Charlie: If I have a son, he's going to be called Wills..
Matt: [Puts on posh voice] Or Rupert!
Charlie: And my daughter will be Alicia.
James: If Matt had two sons and he called one Jack, he should call the other one Michael. Then, if he was calling them, he could shout, 'Michael, Jack..son..'