Brummie TV presenter Emma Willis opens up about marriage to Busted star Matt Willis saying - “I’m very proud”

Birmingham-born broadcaster Emma Willis, 47, who is married to pop-punk band Busted co-founder Matt Willis, 40, has been working since she was 15 when she became a model.

Willis née Griffiths, who lives in a £1.7million home in Hertfordshire with her family, was born in Good Hope Hospital and went to John Willmott School in Sutton Coldfield. Her parents worked at the hospital and she thought she would end up in healthcare as well but instead she became a model and a presenter with a passion for adventure.

Her early success as a model saw her move to London at the age of 17 and she got commissioned by some of the biggest companies like Marie Claire, Elle, Vogue, GAP and Chanel. But, her big break came in 2002 when she moved on to being a presenter. And, it was at that job that she met her future life partner.

Matt - who is the co-founder of the pop-punk band Busted and member of McBusted - met Emma in 2004 when she interviewed him for MTV, according to Daily Mail.

Emma spoke of their first meeting during an episode of Shopping With Keith Lemon, saying: “It was behind the set sort of thing. He was walking past and I thought, ‘underneath all that makeup, he’s actually quite cute.’”

Emma and Matt ran into each other again when they were with mutual friends and sparks flew between them. However, it was Emma who was the pursuer and asked their mutual friend to give Matt her number. “He made me wait three days to call me back,” she added.

They got married in 2008 and share three kids Isabelle,13, Ace, 11, and Trixie, seven, together. Tooting-born Matt revealed in 2015 that their kids are picking up the Brummie accent from their maternal grandparents.

Emma and Matt’s hardest challenge

Every relationship has its ups and downs and for some couples, the issues might be a hard uphill battle. For Emma and Matt, it’s been the latter’s addiction that has been a challenge they have been fighting together. Matt, who gained fame at a young age with the band, recently opened up about his addiction battle in a BBC documentary - Fighting Addiction.

Emma said in the documentary: "Along with addiction comes a lot of bad times. 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."

She married him despite his struggles with alcohol abuse but, in hindsight, said that she didn’t know how hard the road to recovery can be.

"It’s very easy to look in on a situation that you’re not directly involved in and go, ‘fuck that, get out of that’," Emma explained, according to Cosmopolitan. "But it’s not easy," she goes on. "When you’re in it, you have that history together, and if you love someone you’re not going anywhere."

She has been a supportive partner, even when Matt worries about relapsing. "I’m terrified of relapsing again," he said in the documentary. "The thought of it is constantly in my head. I don’t know if I have it in me to get out of it again."

However, Emma has complete confidence in him. "He’s come a long way and I don’t doubt he’ll go even further. I’m very proud,” she said.