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Music

Busted Have Reformed With A Man Who Looks A Bit Like Charlie From Busted

Is that him? It can't be him?
Emma Garland
London, GB

Oh my god it has happened. It has finally happened. Busted, the finest pop rock band from Southend-on-Sea, are back together. Not with different members, or a hybrid incarnation like McBusted, but as the actual OG Busted we have all known and loved ever since they made their debut in 2002 on the cover of Smash Hits with the headline: "Meet Busted: They're Going to Be Bigger than Rik Waller!"

There is one problem, though.

I'd like to draw your attention, for a second, to the above press shot. Who is that on the right? Is that Charlie Simpson out of Busted? Because it certainly doesn't look like Charlie Simpson out of Busted. If someone presented me with a cropped version of this photograph with only him in it, and asked me, "Who is this man?" I would probably say, "I'm not sure. Is it Robert Pattinson with a nose job? Is it a reimagination of the Roman Emperor Augustus as a millennial? Did Noel Fielding go back in time and start a career as one of those dudes who stands outside Hollister with their shirt off?"

Has Charlie Simpson, the man who once compared being in Busted to "torture", been replaced with an impostor? Maybe. I guess time will tell. For now, let's take a few minutes to remember why Busted rule.