Matt Willis says wife Emma saved him from alcohol and drug addiction

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Busted star Matt Willis has credited his wife, the TV presenter Emma Willis, for saving him from his alcohol and drug addiction.

At 43 years old, Willis has been sober for more than 16 years and clean for nine. The musician was once ingesting four grams of cocaine a day.

“If I didn’t have her, I don’t know where I would have ended up,” Willis said of Emma, with whom he shares three children, Isabelle, 17, Ace, 14, and Trixie, 10, and co-hosts the reality dating programme Love is Blind.

“When you hit rock bottom, eventually you want to turn your life around. But having someone that loved me was massive.

“Knowing I had her was enough for me to go, ‘OK, maybe I’m worth doing this for,’” he told The Telegraph.

The couple met in 2004 when the presenter interviewed Busted – famous for hits such as “What I Go To School For” and “Year 3000” – for MTV.

The couple married in 2008 after Willis had been in rehab three times (Getty Images)

Willis would go to rehab three times before he and Emma married in 2008; a day he couldn’t enjoy due to struggles to remain sober.

They welcomed their first child, Isabelle, in 2009, by which time Willis had relapsed and missed his daughter crawling for the first time.

“The guilt of that is unliveable,” he said.

“But having kids is the most beneficial thing I’ve ever done. Isabelle especially really changed me. And I have an amazing relationship with them now. They know I’m in recovery.”

The couple have co-hosted ‘Love is Blind’ since 2024 (Netflix)

Willis has been sober since that night but relapsed on cocaine in 2017 during a summer of festival appearances with Busted.

“I could probably have lied then. Thinking about it, I didn’t have to tell her. But at that moment I knew I had a way out. And it was to be honest.”

The star has been clean ever since and began co-hosting Love Is Blind with Emma in 2024.

“She’s brilliant, guiding me around,” he said. “I learn my lines word for word, but she doesn’t, she just comes out with something natural and it’s perfect. She’s a weapon.”

If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: actiononaddiction.org.uk, mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk.

If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.

In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.