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'NOBODY'S PERFECT'
Emma Willis talks modern feminism, equality in her marriage and shaking up Big Brother
WHEN asked what makes her almost-decade-long marriage work, Emma Willis says it’s actually pretty simple.
“Because I still love him! I still fancy him. He’s still fun, he doesn’t bore me. I suppose I just picked really well. We both picked well.
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“You know what? Maybe there’s not a secret. You’ve just got to work at it and spend time together and appreciate each other. And yeah, you’ll p**s each other off from time to time. Nobody’s perfect. But if you don’t expect perfection, you’ll be fine.”
It’s been an eventful 10 years to say the least. Since marrying in July 2008, Emma, 41, and Busted star turned actor Matt, 34, have had three children and seen their careers take off in unexpected directions.
Former King Of The Jungle Matt has formed McBusted, reunited Busted, dabbled in presenting and broken into acting with roles on TV and in the West End, while Emma has become the darling of prime time and one of the most in-demand and popular women in television.
Does it feel like 10 years?
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“Yes and no,” says Emma. “I said to Matt the other day that I don’t really remember a time before him. Obviously I had a life before him, but it’s never in the forefront of my mind. My life only really feels like it’s been him and our kids. I can’t believe it’s gone like that – it’s flown.”
Making time for each other isn’t always easy, and on the rare occasion they do something just as a couple, they try to make it a rule not to discuss the children.
“Sometimes you just think: ‘Oh my god, the only thing we talk about is the kids!’
“At the end of last year we booked a couple of days away at this little spa in the Cotswolds. It was nice to just concentrate on each other and have a conversation. It was nice to just concentrate on each other and have a conversation.
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“We said we couldn’t talk about the kids or use our phones. Argh! It’s a real test.
“But seriously, it was brilliant, and so we’ve said every few months we’ll try and get a night or two away.”
Busy work schedules mean a lot of juggling and relying on the grandparents to help out – January to March in particular is always full-on, with Celebrity Big Brother and The Voice running back to back. Emma says it has to be “all hands on deck” at home.
“So whether that’s Matt working a bit less while I’m manic or having my parents literally move in with us, we just do it.”
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Growing her brood from two (Isabelle, eight, and Ace, six) to three with Trixie, who turns two in May, wasn’t as tough as she thought it was going to be.
“I actually think going from one to two is more difficult. Three is just another one in the mix. When number two comes along you’re like: ‘S**t! Oh my god, I’ve gotta do this with two people?!’ And so by the time Trixie was born, I’d done this before, easy. Just chuck her in.”
A clear sign that Emma did indeed take everything in her stride was her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it maternity leave.
She was back presenting Big Brother when Trixie was just six weeks old.
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“I did the same after Ace as well,” she says. “To be honest, it was only one or two days a week and it was kind of nice to have time to myself to use my brain again. And obviously I missed them all incredibly, but it was great to have a day of not being a milking machine.”
Reports last month claimed that Big Brother was on its way out and would be axed by Channel 5 at the end of this year when the current contract with Endemol runs out. Emma claims not to know anything about it, but says she hopes it’s not true.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t go anywhere, but no one’s told me anything yet. I would love it to make 2020.A nice round number and 20 years would be amazing.
“I do think that if you get Big Brother right, if you keep the essentials of what it is – a psychological experiment of how different people react in an unrealistic situation – it’s something that can keep going. I’m a nosy neighbour, so for me it’s perfect television.”
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The latest series of Celebrity Big Brother – The Year Of The Woman, which celebrated 100 years of women having the right to vote – does seem to have stirred something in Emma and reignited her passion for a show she was a super-fan of long before taking over the presenting reins in 2013.
“I loved this series – really loved it,” she says. “It was fun, thought-provoking and had a really rounded cast. For me, it had enough of the old Big Brother and new Big Brother to make it great again.”
It’s true there was far less conflict and much more debate, rather like the Big Brother of yore before the wannabes and the weirdos took over, demanding attention and competing over who could shriek the loudest, be the most outrageous or behave the most aggressively.
“It gets really exhausting when they’re at each other’s throats all the time,” agrees Emma.
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“And it had kind of become very young and much more about arguments and having stress levels through the roof.
“This series was a much more fun house. So if it stays like that then yeah, I’d love to stay.”
While the celebration of women winning the vote undoubtedly encouraged a more thoughtful series, there were times when the conversation, often driven by comedian Dapper Laughs, descended into crude, laddish “banter” that was uncomfortable to watch and jarred with the theme. Was it an eye-opener for Emma?
“I think that made you learn more about those boys,” she says. “I was watching that with Matt, and he was just like: ‘Urgh.’ He said: ‘I’m a bloke, and I know it happens, I’ve probably had conversations like that when I was a teenager, but when you see it, it’s just… urgh.’
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“All you can do is try to educate and hope blokes understand that it’s not how we want to be talked → about or to. Do I believe that women should be equal? Yeah! Do I believe that women are f**king great? Yes! Should we be appreciated and supported 100%? Of course! For me, that’s what feminism is.
“And the only way to get true equality is to get men [on board] who are as supportive of women as women are. We need the men. And there are hundreds of thousands of male feminists out there.
“We have total equality in our house. Matt gets up as many nights as I do and probably changes more nappies than me. And I treat my kids exactly the same as each other. If my son wants to wear a dress, he can. If my daughter wants to dress as Darth Vader, she can.”
She worries as much for Ace as she does Isabelle and Trixie when it comes to the impact of social media and the pressures young people face.
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“I think that boys are equally as under pressure and as impressionable. And you know, boys need to talk! I really encourage that with my son, like: ‘What’s the matter? Talk to me, you can tell me anything.’ Boys are told not to talk, man up, grow a pair. All of that.
“Matt’s really good at that as well. When he was growing up he was one of those who kept everything in, so he’s really encouraging about it with Ace. The girls are pretty similar and they take after Matt. They’re both quite determined. My son is more like me. He’s very gentle and sensitive and emotional.”
With Big Brother over until the summer at least, Emma is free to concentrate on The Voice, which has been pulling in over 5 million viewers and sees twhe conclusion of the battle rounds tonight, and the launch of the lives next weekend.
New addition to the coaching panel Olly Murs has settled straight into his new role in characteristically confident fashion.
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“He’s kinda given it a breath of fresh air,” says Emma.
“He’s got such a good attitude and he’s always so hyper. He’s just lifted it a bit more I think. I love them all. Will.i.am is like no one I’ve ever met, but I feel like I know him now and understand that unique brain. He’s just extremely sweet and thoughtful, and just amazing to be around.
“Jennifer Hudson is the nicest woman you could ever wish to meet – so down-to-earth and approachable. Tom Jones is a charmer. He always has a glint in his eye, and he knows how to make you blush.
“I’d say this series has probably been our best yet because I think they’ve really got the line-up right. That’s not to say people who’ve done it before weren’t right, but just this exact mix seems to really work.”
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However, now into its seventh series (its second on ITV since transferring from the BBC), The Voice still hasn’t produced a standout star. Even those who watched it avidly might struggle to remember the names of previous winners.
“I just don’t think it’s that type of show,” says Emma in its defence. “It’s a platform for talent, and then they have to go and work really bloody hard afterwards.
“I don’t think it’s about immediate success – that instant fame. There was one girl called Lucy O’Byrne [who came runner-up in 2015]. She worked in the theatre selling popcorn and after the show she got a West End lead. So it’s not mainstream or in the charts, but it’s what she wanted to do, so it worked for her.
“The boys from last year [Into The Ark] are touring all the time, doing gigs, supporting Tom Jones on tour and releasing new music. They wouldn’t be doing this at this level if it wasn’t for being on the show, so it’s a stepping stone and a platform, and then they have to run with it and do what they can.
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“My husband is still knocking on doors, and he’s been around for a long time. But he’s still plugging away and recording albums and touring.
They [Busted] aren’t in the charts, but they’re still doing what they love, and they’re earning a living doing it. And as will.i.am says: ‘You wanna be at No.1? Well, that ain’t gonna make you any money. Touring the world will.’
“It’s perseverance. Sorry, that was a long answer!”
But a good one. Engaging and self-deprecating, Emma offers disarmingly easy conversation with no pretension or guard. Her relatability means big brands are keen to have her endorsement, but Emma is very choosy about who she works with.
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Her partnership with Next, she says, is “perfect”, as she shops there herself and it’s her go-to store when it comes to kitting out the children. Each season she selects her key picks from the collection.
“Their kids’ clothing is phenomenal,” she says. “And I’ve been living in the pinstriped trousers – I wore the suit to Davina McCall’s birthday party.”
She’s also launched her own range of lashes with Eylure, inspired by and named after her children. She lets out a squeal of delight at the very mention.
“I wanted them to semi-resemble what my kids’ lashes were like. It’s so unfair – my son’s are probably the best of all three. He’s so blonde but his lashes are really dark and thick.”
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She also looks extraordinarily good and works with a personal trainer to stay in shape, something she’s stepped up since Trixie was born, having never been able to find the time before.
“The minute I hit 40, I was like: ‘Right, I’m 40 and pregnant. I know that s**t is not going to go back to where it’s meant to go!’
“I’ve got really into Pilates and I love it. Although the minute December came, it just all went t**s up. I’m trying, but when I’m working every day, I can’t fit training in. And on the weekends I just wanna be with the kids. My trainer asks what day I’m free this week and I’m like: ‘Oh, I’m very busy, I’ll see you in March!’”
Even now, after all the success she’s enjoyed, Emma still harbours a huge amount of self-doubt. The years she spent chipping away, unconvinced she’d ever get that break, mean she never takes anything for granted.
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“I’m a glass-half-empty type of girl,” she says. “I’m like: ‘It’s never gonna happen,’ and then: ‘Yay, it happened!’ rather than: ‘Is it going to happen? Oh, I’m devastated!’”
It sounds like she’s a pessimist, but Emma says not.
“I’m a realist, I think, still. I just keep going. I think if you plan things or hope for things or want things, they don’t happen, and you end up disappointed. And then everything is just a bonus if it happens.”
- The Eylure X Emma Willis false lashes range is available from March.
Additional photography: Rex Features, Backgrid
Hair: Louis Byrne at The London Style Agency using Sam McKnight
Make-up: Amanda Bowen using Marc Jacobs and La Mer
Styling: Nana Acheampong
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