Emma Willis has been opening up about her husband’s battle with addiction.
Busted star Matt Willis was already struggling with alcohol when he married TV presenter Emma in 2008. The couple have since gone on to have 3 children together - Isabella (13), Ace (11) and Trixie (7).
Ahead of the release of Matt’s new BBC documentary, titled Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction, Emma has been speaking to OK! about how her husband’s struggles have affected their life together as a family.
“Along with addiction comes a lot of bad times,” the 47-year-old said honestly. “As hard and as bad as that can be and has been, it also is part of who he is and who he is is who I love. We’ve been together for 18 years.”
After being sober for eight years, Matt relapsed with drugs in 2016 when his band Busted began touring again.
“You kind of kick yourself a bit on reflection because you're like how the f*** didn't I see that?” Emma recalled, admitting that Matt hid his relapse from her at that time. “All those key signs that I hadn't seen for so many years were all coming back.”
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve got four kids instead of three. There's been a lot of joy, but equally it's been incredibly heavy at times,” she continued.
Ahead of Busted’s new reunion tour this September, the former Big Brother presenter expressed in Matt’s documentary that she is worried about history repeating itself. “Matt’s always had issues, but they seem to really kick in when he’s on tour,” Emma explained in the film.
“I know he doesn’t want to be that person but is his brain going to trick him and go, ‘Just one more time..’? That’s the worry,” she added.
The mum-of-three concluded by sharing that she will always worry about her husband. “I try not to think too much about the past but then I have to remind myself that he’s relapsed massively when I thought he was all good,” Emma confessed.
Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction airs next Wednesday, May 17, on BBC One at 9pm.
