IT seems incredible now that Friday will be 11 years to the day since McFly burst onto the scene with their debut single, 5 Colours in Her Hair, which rocketed to number one in the UK charts.

The subsequent album Room on the Third Floor made history as the band became the youngest to group to land a debut album at number one.

Tom Fletcher, who formed the band, is now a married and had his first son Buzz last year, but admits to The Journal that he still has the sense of humour of a four-year-old.

It has helped him reinvent himself in a journey that has taken him from the top of the music charts to the top of the best-sellers list with his children's book The Dinosaur that Pooped — which he co-wrote with bandmate Dougie Poynter.

"We really didn't expect The Dinosaur That Pooped to take off as much as it has and to capture kids imaginations," he said.

"We approached it in a similar way to writing a song. Me and Dougie have been writing songs together for 12 or 13 years so it has become second nature to us really.

"The easier thing than writing songs though is it allows us to be stupid and kids writing about dinosaurs and poop, all the things you wish your parents read to you when you were a kid we put in the book.

"We have one coming out in September which is already written and we have got really big plans for that as a project."

He is now touring with the supergroup McBusted which recently released its second album and are currently mid-tour with dates at the Bournemouth International Centre on Monday and Wednesday.

Fletcher added: "It is great fun, we have been mates for 14 years and I have known Matt [Willis] since I was about 13. We have been friends for a long time and it is just a bunch of mates on the road and on tour."

It comes full circle for Fletcher who was snubbed by the Busted back in 2001 when record label Island decided to go with a three-piece as opposed to a four-piece with Charlie Simpson winning the final place.

He stayed on however with the band, co-writing UK number one singles Crashed the Wedding, Who's David and Thunderbirds before getting his break with McFly.

"It has been a 12 year audition and I got in," he joked. "It is amazing because I was lucky enough to write songs for Busted years ago so finally —12 years later — I am able to stand on stage and play all of those songs that I wrote years ago. So it is an amazing feeling and so something I am very proud of."

It has been a difficult few weeks for the band after news that close friend and rapper Lil Chris died on March 23 and performed a tribute to him when news of his death broke.

"We used to play a song with Chris when he toured with us. For quite a few years we used to cover a Beastie Boys song and he would come on stage and sing it with us," Fletcher continued.

"We just felt like we wanted to play it for him so we did it on the day [he died].

"It is extremely important that it [depression] is spoken about more and I think that we are going to do a real shift because before it was such a taboo subject and now it seems to be spoken about a lot more which can only be a fantastic thing.

"I personally love that I am able to speak openly about my experiences and inspire people get get themselves sorted out and seek help and it is the only way these things get better is if people talk about it.

"So I think when these things happen it is a wake call for everyone."

Fletcher has become something of a viral YouTube star for his heart-rendering videos sharing the intimate moments of his life such as the pregnancy of his wife and his musical wedding speech with fans.

"I have been in the public eye since I was 17 so it is something that I am very used to and very comfortable with. It is all about the way you share stuff, I never have any ulterior motives other than just sharing things that people will enjoy."#

McBusted will be playing at the Bournemouth International Centre on Monday and Wednesday, visit bic.co.uk for more information.