Busted star James Bourne has delivered a heartbreaking health update to his devoted fanbase. The musician was forced to withdraw from his band's tour with McFly just hours before it got underway due to his deteriorating health. Now, James, 42, has broken his silence on social media to provide fans with an update. He revealed that he is awaiting major surgery which he hopes will "extend his life" and expressed his desperate desire to return to making music and touring.

Posting on his Instagram Stories, he shared a sombre update with supporters. James wrote: "I realised it's been about six months since I posted last. I have a plan in place to have a 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!" He has yet to disclose the nature of the surgery or his condition. Last year, James confirmed he was unable to take to the stage on the McFly vs Busted tour due to illness.

"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," he wrote.

"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.", reports the Mirror.

Throughout their tour, the band kept James at the heart of the show in spirit and would regularly speak about him. In one poignant update, Matt Willis had 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 weird.

"But we're gonna do the best we can." He also added that it had "happened f***ing fast", before adding "health is wealth". He said they had recruited someone else to perform in James' place, before bringing his younger brother Chris onstage.

Following the opening night in Birmingham, Busted vs McFly continued across the UK in cities including London, Cardiff, Newcastle and Liverpool before concluding in Nottingham in November.