I knew exactly who the fit girl off MTV was, says Matt Willis as he admits putting Emma Willis ‘through the wringer’
EMMA WILLIS and her husband Matt are the latest couple to present a TV show together – but unlike some telly spouses, they won’t be chatting to celebs on a sofa.
They are fronting new dating programme Love Is Blind — and the title seems ironic to Matt, who first met presenter Emma when he was in chart-topping band Busted.
He said with a laugh: “Love wasn’t blind for me. I was like, ‘That’s the fit girl from MTV, I’m going to go straight for that!’.”
Matt, 41, admits he felt like he was punching above his weight with the former model, now 48.
He added: “I’ve always felt like that. I knew from very early on in my relationship, ‘I’m going to grab on for dear life’. And I’ve managed to stick it out for 20 years. We’re quite soppy these days.”
It sounds like Emma was just as bowled over.
She said: “I would have fallen in love with Matt’s personality. But obviously the way somebody looks is going to play a part in it.
“Yes, when you see someone, you need to be attracted to them.
“But the concept of Love Is Blind is seeing if that emotional connection has more longevity than just a physical one that might fizzle out.”
The Netflix dating show is a global smash hit following six series in the US — hosted by married couple Nick and Vanessa Lachey — as well as versions in other countries.
‘It’s worth the work’
Producers were said to be considering Chris and Rosie Ramsey, as well as Rochelle and Marvin Humes, to present the UK edition.
But Matt and Emma are the perfect choice — because they know romance can be a real rollercoaster ride.
Emma stuck by Matt during his battles with alcohol and drugs, which they spoke about on BBC documentary Fighting Addiction last year.
Matt said: “We’ve been married for 16 years and there have been a lot of ups and downs, but it’s always worth the work.
“With any relationship, when things are good, things are good. But when things hit tough times, or when there’s a rock in the road, that’s when the real test happens.”
Emma added: “Everybody faces a bump. But how big that bump is and how they navigate those bumps are all different.
“Patience, give and take and being able to communicate are all key.”
Matt admitted to a magazine: “I put her through the wringer for a number of years. I came out of that rehab centre three days before we got married.
“She hadn’t said, ‘I’m not going to marry you’. But I knew that was on the cards.”
Emma added: “He had to make a choice. I didn’t want to leave, but I also couldn’t let it be my life, or the life of any kids we might have. Thank f*** he sorted himself out.”
Emma has since had three children with Matt — Isabelle in 2009, Ace in 2011 and Trixie in 2014.
While Matt still plays with Busted, who enjoyed a sell-out 20th anniversary tour last year, The Voice host Emma remains one of TV’s most popular presenters.
Working together on screen, though, is a full-circle moment after their first collaboration on jungle spin-off I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! NOW! in 2007, when Emma was pregnant with Isabelle.
She said: “People have always asked us over the years, ‘Do you think you’d ever do anything together?’.
“And we’ve always said we would if it made sense.
“But then Netflix just approached us and went, ‘What about this?’. And we’re like, ‘Oh, that kind of seems fitting. It’s an absolute yes from us’.”
On Love Is Blind, pairs of singletons sit either side of a pane of frosted glass.
Unable to see each other, they form connections through conversation alone — and after falling in love, some go on to propose.
Only then are they allowed to meet face to face, before going on a luxury holiday and later moving in together.
After just one month there’s a wedding day, when the bride and groom have the chance to say “I do” — or “I don’t”.
Emma said: “We want to intervene all the time, but we’re not allowed. All the way along, we asked, ‘Can we go and chat to them about that?’. And they’re like, ‘No’.
“‘Can I meet the families?’. ‘No’. ‘Can we go to the weddings?’. ‘No’.
“But I get it. Because I think if you want the relationship to work, and for them to thrive, you want it to remain in that bubble for as long as possible.”
Matt said: “I haven’t been on a date since I was 21. I’m 41 now, so the thought of doing it would just be strange.”
Emma added with a laugh: “Even online dating just seems like an absolutely bonkers concept.
“Me and Matt are so old that our relationship pre-dated apps.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the show has proven to actually work.
Nine couples from the US series are still together — and Emma reckons the UK version could see similar success.
She teased of the new series: “I think there’s a forever couple — they’re perfect, but I’m not saying any more. I really felt everyone was genuine and relatable.
“It’s a legitimate wedding and not something you can enter into lightly, so everybody had to be in it for the right reasons.”
The show is likely to catapult the Willises to global fame.
So could they be the next Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who worked together on TV for decades?
Emma laughed as her husband told her: “I hope so. It would be nice to work with you for the next 20 years.
I put her through the wringer for number of years
Matt
“I’d love it. We go on dates and talk about the kids, we’re those people. So the show gave us something else to talk about.”
Warming to the idea, he went on: “We didn’t go too David and Victoria Beckham on it, but there’s always time to do a matching outfit.
“We should, it’d be great. Next series. Justin and Britney, take two.”
Despite the jokes, Matt took his presenting job very seriously. ‘I was in awe’ Emma said: “He kind of approached it like an actor. He learned his whole script. You made me look really unprofessional.”
Laughing, Matt added: “I was terrified. I thought that’s what you do. “This is Emma’s thing. She’s very good at it, so I didn’t want to let her down. “I’ve watched her on telly for years doing her thing. But actually being with her doing it, I was in awe.”
Reality TV is Emma’s second home. She replaced Brian Dowling as host of Channel 5’s version of Big Brother in 2013 and became a real fan favourite during her five years on the show.
‘Pulled myself out of it’
She knows all too well how addictive the genre can be — she has to tear herself away from Love Island.
Emma said: “I’ve spent many years watching reality TV. “Now I know how much of your life it takes over if you get in and watch them.
“I watched Love Island because my eldest wanted to start watching it. I was like, ‘I need to just check that this is OK’. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll watch another one with you, just to make sure’. But I pulled myself out of it because I can’t give up my summers again.”
Which brings us back to Love Is Blind, which lands on Netflix next week, just days after the current series of Love Island ends.
Dating shows remain big business for TV channels, with a number of new formats launching this summer, including Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends for ITV and Rylan Clark’s Dating Naked arriving on Paramount+.
But Emma and Matt reckon their show stands apart — and that fame- seekers will fail.
The concept of Love Is Blind is seeing if that emotional connection has more longevity than just a physical one that might fizzle out
Emma
Matt said: “There’s a few dating shows where the telly is the thing that people want and the dating is just the by-product, whereas this is completely opposite.”
Emma added: “It’s not like Big Brother was, there’s no cash prize.
“At the end of it is a legal wedding. You can’t enter into it lightly.
“You’ve got to genuinely want to be settling down.
“A lot of the cast have something they’re dealing with or obstacles they have had to overcome, and it’s not done in a sob story way.
“We’ve all got something, right? You’ve got to put all your cards on the table and hope you’ve got a . . . what’s a good card analogy?”
‘Obstacles to overcome’
“Full house?” suggests Matt. Now the couple are looking forward to binge-watching the show.
Emma said: “You’ll be howling at the telly. “It’s very funny. It has a very, very British sense of humour.”
Matt added: “Taking the p*** is British people’s love language, which is different to any other country.”
Emma went on: “With the American one, it’s big, grand gestures.
“Ours is just taking the p***, having a giggle. There’s more dry humour.”
But were they forced to follow the all-American format?
Emma said: “There’s a certain language to the show.
“And when we auditioned, we were like, ‘Do we have to be really serious with it or can we be a bit more playful?’.
“The fabric of the show is there, but we just kind of do it with a smile. It’s all in the delivery.”
- Love Is Blind UK is available on Netflix from August 7.