{"id":15395,"date":"2026-10-27T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/busteds-james-bourne-says-hero-brother-chris-saved-his-life-with-kidney-donation\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T11:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T11:06:00","slug":"busteds-james-bourne-says-hero-brother-chris-saved-his-life-with-kidney-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/27\/busteds-james-bourne-says-hero-brother-chris-saved-his-life-with-kidney-donation\/","title":{"rendered":"Busted&#8217;s James Bourne says &#8216;hero&#8217; brother Chris saved his life with kidney donation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_726f4b\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Busted&#8217;s James Bourne revealed his &#8216;hero&#8217; younger brother Chris has donated him a kidney to save his life after he was &#8216;given a few years to live&#8217; \u2013 with them both now recovering from surgery<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<div class=\"Byline_author-and-badge-wrapper__2dsv1\">\n<div class=\"Authors_authors-container__wVWas\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" style=\"--authors-by:&quot;By&quot;\"><span><span role=\"presentation\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"AuthorLink_author-link__rg5qj\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" rel=\"author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/authors\/catriona-rigney\/\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_726f4b\">Catriona Rigney<\/strong><\/a><\/span> OK! Online Editor<\/span><span> and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_726f4b\">Carla Feric Press Association Entertainment Reporter<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\">11:06, 27 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37812744\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Busted star James Bourne has shared a huge update on his health\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Busted star James Bourne has shared a huge update on his health<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images For Bauer Media\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images For Bauer Media)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Busted star <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"James BourneLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/latest\/james-bourne\" target=\"_blank\">James Bourne<\/a> has revealed his brother Chris &#8220;saved my life yet again&#8221; by donating a kidney to him after doctors told him he had &#8220;a few years left to live&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The musician, 43, pulled out of the <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"BustedLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/latest\/busted\" target=\"_blank\">Busted<\/a> Vs <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"McFlyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/latest\/mcfly\" target=\"_blank\">McFly<\/a> tour just a day before it was to kick off in September last year due to health issues, with Chris stepping in to replace him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Earlier this year, in April, James revealed that he <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"planned to undergo &quot;major surgery that should extend my life&quot;.Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/celebrity-news\/busteds-james-bourne-reveals-having-36970889\" target=\"_blank\">planned to undergo &#8220;major surgery that should extend my life&#8221;.<\/a> The star has since deleted his Instagram account and had not posted a detailed update on his health since July, <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"when he told fans he was &quot;not out of the woods yet&quot;.Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/celebrity-news\/busteds-james-bourne-gives-health-37473928\" target=\"_blank\">when he told fans he was &#8220;not out of the woods yet&#8221;.<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37812741\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37812741\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:0.7514018691588785\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"James Bourne\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/2_James-Bourne-health-update.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/2_James-Bourne-health-update.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/2_James-Bourne-health-update.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/2_James-Bourne-health-update.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"James' brother Chris saved his life by giving him a kidney\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">James&#8217; brother Chris saved his life by giving him a kidney<cite aria-label=\"Image: X\/ @JamesBourne\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: X\/ @JamesBourne)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, on Monday, James shared an update alongside a smiling selfie alongside his youngest brother, writing: &#8220;I&#8217;m still alive and kicking and it&#8217;s all thanks to my brother.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The star encouraged fans to read his Spotify bio for a health update, where he wrote a lengthy message which said: &#8220;Wow, what the hell happened? One minute you&#8217;re heading out on tour, the next thing you know you&#8217;re on the bench and out of the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;My condition was serious and the doctors told me I had a few years left to live. I&#8217;m happy to share now that my youngest brother, Chris, who stepped in for me on tour last year, has saved my life yet again. This time quite literally by donating me one of his kidneys.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37562074\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37562074\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:0.6666666666666666\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37562074.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Hits-Live-Manchester.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37562074.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/1_Hits-Live-Manchester.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37562074.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/1_Hits-Live-Manchester.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37562074.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Hits-Live-Manchester.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"James with his Busted bandmates Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">James with his Busted bandmates Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe how much better I&#8217;m starting to feel already. I&#8217;m still going to need some time, but I wanted you to know that we&#8217;re both recovering from surgery just fine. My brother is a hero.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Chris replied to James&#8217; post, writing: &#8220;We did it brother.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">James&#8217; sentiments were echoed by Fiona Loud, policy director of the Kidney Care UK charity, who said: &#8220;James is absolutely right, his brother is a hero. As are all of those who step forward to be an organ donor for family, friends or even someone they have never even met.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re pleased that he didn&#8217;t need to wait until the year 3000 to receive his transplant, as the kidney waiting list is the longest it&#8217;s ever been \u2013 so it&#8217;s great to see his brother has stepped in to help and was a match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;We are very happy for James and Chris, we&#8217;re glad to hear they are recovering well, and we hope that James is able to get back to living his life to the full with his brother&#8217;s kidney soon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">James has not given any further details of his condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">When announcing his withdrawal from the Busted Vs McFly tour last year, James posted a message on Instagram saying he was &#8220;not in good enough health to play these shows&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37812726\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37812726\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"James Bourne\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812726.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Busted-performing-in-Birmingham-2023-09-Sep-2023.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812726.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Busted-performing-in-Birmingham-2023-09-Sep-2023.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812726.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Busted-performing-in-Birmingham-2023-09-Sep-2023.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812726.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Busted-performing-in-Birmingham-2023-09-Sep-2023.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"James had quit the band's tour with McFly last year over ill health\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">James had quit the band&#8217;s tour with McFly last year over ill health<cite aria-label=\"Image: Myles Wright\/ZUMA Press Wire\/REX\/Shutterstock\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Myles Wright\/ZUMA Press Wire\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of information I still don&#8217;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,&#8221; he wrote at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">James also said his bandmates <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Matt WillisLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/latest\/matt-willis\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Willis<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Charlie SimpsonLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/latest\/charlie-simpson\" target=\"_blank\">Charlie Simpson<\/a> supported his decision to step down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He went about six months without posting on Instagram before returning in April to reveal he was planning to undergo surgery, but did not say what for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He posted: &#8220;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!&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ok.co.uk\/celebrity-news\/busted-james-bourne-brother-kidney-37813850\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Busted&#8217;s James Bourne revealed his &#8216;hero&#8217; younger brother Chris has donated him a kidney to save his life after he was &#8216;given a few years to live&#8217; \u2013 with them both now recovering from surgery Catriona Rigney OK! Online Editor and Carla Feric Press Association Entertainment Reporter 11:06, 27 Oct 2026 Busted star James Bourne [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i2-prod.ok.co.uk\/article37812741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200d\/2_James-Bourne-health-update.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[5473,3457,12861,12864,17502,2218,1517,3010,654,12863,17503,315,8013,12862,1473],"class_list":["post-15395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity","tag-bourne","tag-brother","tag-busted","tag-busteds","tag-charlie-simpson","tag-chris","tag-donation","tag-hero","tag-james","tag-james-bourne","tag-kidney","tag-life","tag-matt-willis","tag-mcfly","tag-saved"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}