The Voice star Emma Willis says she will never stop her son Ace wearing a pink crop top
DOTING mum-of-three Emma Willis says she wants her little ones to express themselves however they want to.
In an exclusive interview, the telly favourite, 44, spoke on the idea of raising children gender neutral – after her son Ace, aged nine, was pictured rocking a pink crop top and long, blonde tresses.
She said: “I think it’s a really individual, personal thing. You know, my son likes what he likes, and far be it for me to stop him expressing himself or experimenting however he likes with clothes.
“I see it as hair is hair, clothes are clothes and colour is colour. And, you know, if my son wants to wear a pink top, I’m certainly not going to stop him.
“Let kids explore. Kids love exploring. And they don’t just have to explore in the dirt with worms and spiders, they can explore with colour and clothes and hair.
“I just let him be him.”
The Voice presenter shares little Ace and daughters Isabelle, 11, and Trixie, aged four, with Busted singer Matt Willis, 37 – who she married in 2008.
She will be back on screens this weekend to host the first of The Voice semi-finals.
The semi-finals will see guest mentors Melanie C, Danny O’Donoghue, James Bay and Leigh-Anne Pinnock aid show coaches Tom Jones, Will.I.Am, Olly Murs and Anne-Marie with their respective team singers.
Speaking about the show, Emma said: “I’ll be there until they get rid of me so I don’t plan on going anywhere. I love it. It’s such a lovely show. I really enjoy it, one because I love music.
“And I love finding people who are talented and can sing, because I sound like a cat when I sing.
“So I’m in awe of people who’ve got a good voice, and I mean, what’s not to like about it so I’ll be there for as long they want me.”
But Emma revealed that the coaches actually tried to get her to perform a tune while filming the show – which she refused to do.
She said: “The coaches tried to get me to sing a song once as well. And it was not going to happen.
“Could you imagine when you sound so bad, as bad as I do, I mean, it’s almost unbearable to listen to myself speak sometimes, but if I sang, people would literally run away.
“And could you imagine me trying to sing in front of Tom Jones?”
In fact, Emma admitted she was so star-struck to work with the 80-year-old music legend at first that she was completely tongue-tied.
She added: “For quite a few years, I was like, I don’t know what to say to him, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to say.
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“But now I’ve got to know him, I just love listening to him. I want him to tell me stories.
“He’s a very funny, lovely man and I feel very privileged and honoured that I get to work alongside a legend like that, as someone who’s still so down to Earth after the life he’s had is amazing.
“He is so much fun, and him and Olly together are a match made in humorous heaven.”
- The Voice UK’s first semi-final airs on Saturday at 8.30pm on ITV, with the second airing on March, 13.
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