Emma Willis Opens Up About Husband Matt’s Addiction: “I Knew He Was Unwell”
Emma Willis has opened up in raw, emotional detail about the difficult journey she and husband Matt Willis endured as he battled addiction, revealing the moment she knew something wasn’t right.
Speaking on Rylan Clark’s How To Be In Love podcast, the popular TV presenter didn’t hold back when discussing the deeply personal BBC documentary Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction, which aired in 2023.
The documentary saw Busted star Matt confront his struggles with drug and alcohol dependency head-on, with Emma playing a vital role in telling the story from the family’s perspective.
“It was terrifying,” Emma admitted. “I was terrified making the doc. I’d never done something like that.”
She confessed to fearing the emotional toll it could take, not just on her, but on their entire family. “It was so long in the past that we’d lived that, I was like, do I want to feel that again, do I want to bring it up, what is going to come up. I was scared. Have we dealt with it?”
Her fears were deeply rooted. Not just in reawakening painful memories, but in the risk of saying something that could unintentionally hurt her husband. “I was worried about what they would ask me, I was worried about what I would say, I never wanted to say anything that would be offensive to him.”
But Matt, as Emma explained, had insisted on complete honesty. “He said to me, ‘You have to be super honest in it. We’re making something to try and help people and unless we’re both honest, it’s not going to do that.”
It was this candid approach that moved viewers and earned praise for its unflinching portrayal of addiction’s impact on both the sufferer and their loved ones.
“I knew he was unwell, but I also knew that he didn’t want to be unwell,” Emma revealed. Matt, in turn, reflected on how Emma had become his anchor during his darkest moments. “My whole life revolved around drinking drugs… but Emma was drawing me towards something pure, which was love.”
It was that love, according to Matt, that pulled him towards recovery. “I always knew I could get clean… I always knew I had to, I always knew I wanted to because I wanted her,” he shared. “I knew there was something worth fighting for, and that’s what got me through all those dark times.”
One of the most moving moments came when Emma recalled seeing Matt hold their first child, Isabelle. It was, she said, the turning point.
“The minute I saw Matt become a dad, I saw him change. Physically, I saw… [clicks fingers].” She added, “It was pure selfless love, literally pouring from his face.”
The couple, who wed in 2008 and now have three children, have long been admired for their strong bond. Their openness is not just a testament to their resilience but a powerful message to others navigating addiction and its aftermath.
Emma Willis, already a household name in the UK, continues to connect with audiences not just through her presenting work — but through her honesty and humanity.
