THERE'S a man panting on the other end of the phone line. My mind is picturing a million teenage Busted fans that would pay good money to take this call and listen to the band's former bassist, Matt Willis, gasping for breath. Me? I'm just hoping it's not a wrong number.

"I just ran for the phone," Matt explains, breathlessly breaking into embarrassed laughter, "I'm knackered!" Whilst it's flattering to think he was so keen to take my call, it's also hard to imagine such nominal exercise would have worn him out during his Busted days.

Back then, a typical 24 hours involved coming in from the night before at 4am, heading out to the BBC at 5am to record a children's morning programme, dodge some custard pies and answer questions about his favourite colour, followed by an afternoon of interviews and a 90-minute stint of leaping around into the small hours on stage at, say, Wembley as part of a six-night run.

Yeah yeah, we all know the details: Busted were record breakers, the biggest teen sensation since Oxy 10 spot cream and a band whose presence anywhere was usually pre-empted by hours of endless screaming. But that was then.

It's just over two years since Busted split up - the anniversary of Charlie Simpson's unexpected press announcement was last week - and all three boys (including third man James Bourne) have gone it alone since with mixed success. London geezer Matt is the newest out of the blocks - his career was, shall we say, temporarily put on hold when his greed for grog got in the way.

But that, too, is all in the past. Matt cleaned himself up and got back in the studio, finally releasing his debut album last November. He's since been crowned King of the Jungle after beating bikini babe Myleene Klass in I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, but he's been disappointed with the response. His album (I say, wandering into a minefield dusted with egg shells) has performed modestly despite the media circus, peaking at number 66. "That's a very nice way to put it," he chuckles. "It hasn't done well. It sucks, man, what's happened with it. I did I'm A Celebrity to raise the game and promote my album because I don't think people are really getting round to hearing it."

As it was, the jungle proved to be a bore, as well as a false start. "I don't think you can sell out in music so I wasn't worried about that. But I walked out expecting my album to be taking off and all people wanted to know was what a kangaroo's anus tasted like."

It's harsh, but true. Matt's face has appeared in a few gossip columns, he's allegedly been offered substantial sums for his memoirs ("I get asked a lot but I'm not gonna do that. I'm 23 years old and I can't remember half my life; I was in band, had a really awesome time - I wouldn't buy that.") and there are even some movie soundtracks in the pipeline. But Matt still isn't taking anything for granted.

"I'm definitely gonna keep making music, I don't know if I really have a plan other than just to do as much as I can.

"I was never sure I wanted to go solo. I'm still not sure, if I'm honest. But I love the music I've made - I've really worked my a*** off on it. "

He's about to embark on a ten-date tour of seriously grown up venues - including Manchester University on February 17. How is he feeling? "It's going to be quite good to play full sets on my own. I'm going to have to be a bit more professional than I was in my Busted days. Singing in Busted was quite easy. If I'd had a big night the night before, I could quite easily sing the songs. But now the vocals are quite demanding. If I have a big night, I'm screwed."

Matt Willis: Academy, Oxford Road, February 17. Tickets é12.50 on 0161 275 2930 Tweet