Dougie Poynter has been having secret acting lessons.

The McBusted star, 27, has had his sights set on theatre for a ''long time'' and has now finally plucked up the courage to venture away from his career in music after his girlfriend Ellie Goulding, 28, persuaded him to chase his dreams.

A source told The Sun newspaper: ''Acting is something Dougie has considered for a long time. He has taken lessons to grasp the basics after Ellie told him to go for it.''

And it seems it won't be long before the handsome singer has a few roles under his belt as a number of big-name agents have already expressed their interest in his talent.

The insider added: ''There's a big interest from agents as they think he can make a credible actor. He knows a career in music isn't something that'll last for ever.''

News Dougie is determined to carve out a career in the tough acting business comes just a day after it was announced Busted, who joined with his group McFly last year to create supergroup McBusted, were set to reform.

The source said: ''McBusted have their DVD coming out then they'll take a break and the boys will go back to being McFly at some point next year.''

However, his 'Love is Easy' hitmaker bandmates Tom Fletcher and Harry Judd are busy starting a family with their significant others so Dougie sees it as the perfect opportunity to try his hand at other things during their break.

The source added: ''Tom and Harry's focus right now is on having babies so Dougie wants to make the most of the break.''