Strictly Come Dancing star Tom Fletcher is so busy with the hit BBC show that he has no time to finish McFly’s new album.
Tom and dance partner Amy Dowden have been wowing fans and the judges, but their success as come at a price.
The 36-year-old musician’s continued success under the glitterball means that McFly’s loyal fans will have to wait even longer for their latest work
Bandmates Harry Judd, Dougie Poynter and Danny Jones have all completed their work on the follow-up to their 2020 comeback collection Young Dumb Thrills.
However, Tom's hectic dancing rehearsal schedule has meant that he has had to put his work on the album firmly on the back burner as he tries to win the show.
Tom and Amy dazzled with their devilish Halloween-themed tango on Saturday’s show – and the popular duo are working hard on training so they can once again impress.
And Tom’s bandmate Harry, who became a dad the third time to son Lockie last month, revealed: "It's me, Danny and Dougie in the studio, and now just Danny and Dougie because I've been with the baby.
"We finished the drums before we toured and I re-did one song after the tour. Dougie's finished all of his bass and he's been doing loads of vocals because Tom's not been there and we've just wanted to get the melodies recorded and down. Danny's done all of his vocals and stuff.
"The progress has been great. We just need to get a load of Tom's vocals down, then finished."
He added in an interview with The Sun: "It's all sounding great, we're really excited about it. I've genuinely never been more excited about new music."
McFly are hoping to release their new album early next year, but it’s unknown how long it will take to finish, especially if Tom were to win Strictly and his workload would likely increase as a result.
That means both Dougie and Danny will sing on the record more than ever before.
Speaking to promote booking.com 's partnership with the ICC Men's T20 World Cup of cricket, Harry -who won Strictly a decade ago - stressed: "At first, it was a bit stressful because I was like, 'I really hope he does well'.
"But now I'm enjoying it more. He's clearly got the ability. It is stressful though, I feel for him.
“It's intense. He is doing great. The competition is so tough. I wouldn't want to be going up against those lot.
"Tom's finding it difficult, like we all do, with moments where you're like, 'That's not possible. How am I supposed to learn that in five days?'"
McFly singer Tom has impressed on series 19 of Strictly, but was forced to drop out of the second week of the BBC One show after he and Amy tested positive for Covid.
And that meant he was also forced to miss out on the rest of his band McFly's UK tour, after the star did his best to balance his Strictly obligations with his pop star duties.
Tom admitted it was a "silly idea" to try and juggle Strictly with the McFly tour - adding that he "didn't do it very successfully".
However, he confirmed that he'll soon be picking up the guitar again, and that's to play with his McFly pals at their special one-off show at London's O2 Arena.
"I can’t tell you how weird it is to know a McFLY show is happening without being there next to Danny, Dougie and Harry,” admitted Tom on his Instagram account.
“But I’m so proud of the band and our team for getting these last shows on for you all under some pretty challenging circumstances."
