Celeb Stress: Matt, Busted. 'Fans threatened to kill my girlfriend!'

Matt, the more successful Busted become, the more fans you'll have following your every move. What's life like for you now?
'I've got quite a few obsessive fans. There are people who follow us everywhere. Most of them are fine. What annoys me is when fans follow us and then pretend they're not! I'm thinking, 'If you're following a band, at least admit you like the band!''

Do you get mobbed when you go shopping?
'The time I was most taken aback was when I was walking along Oxford Street in London. Four girls came up to me and all of them were crying. They were making such a big scene! One girl opened up her purse and it was full of pictures of me and another opened her bag and it was full of Busted stuff.'

Rude

Have you ever been scared for your safety?
'Yes, once. I was shopping in Kingston once and about 30 or 40 people mobbed me. And because there were so many people all around me, more came over to see what was happening. Before I knew it, there were sh*tloads of people everywhere and I was just stuck against the wall. Even dads were saying, 'Sign this - it might be worth something one day', the rude b*****ds! I had to be nice and say, 'Yeah, 'course I will mate' [pulls angry face].'

Do fans call you on your mobile?
'Yeah. My number's been put on the internet and has been there for a while. Nearly every number I've had has gone on the internet. I don't know how fans get hold of it. I get called about seven times a day. I'm changing my number tomorrow, actually!'

That must get quite annoying..
'A specific person will call me constantly, for days on end - until they get bored. So now, I don't answer any calls that flash up on my phone without a name. If someone keeps phoning me, I'll save their number as 'no'. So I have about 20 numbers in my phone that all come up as 'no' when those people ring me.'

Hurt

How did your fans react when you started going out with your girlfriend (Holly, who works for Busted's record company)?
'No one's made that much of a big deal about it but the person I'm seeing once had a girl ring her up and say, 'If you're going out with him, we're gonna hurt you and if you're living with him, we're gonna kill you!''

God, that's awful. How did you react when you heard?
'The whole thing was just stupid little girls being silly. I just told [my girlfriend] to forget about it. How f***ing dare somebody say that to her?! If I ever met those girls, I wouldn't be nice to them. [Matt leans into the microphone] 'I know all your names as well!' They're diehard fans.'

Did you dye your hair darker so that you wouldn't get noticed so much in the street?
'Actually, no. But since I've dyed my hair this colour, I can walk down the street without getting recognised. It really helps a lot! If I went anywhere before, when I was blond, I used to always get shouted at!'