Matt Willis has admitted that he finds his eldest child's ongoing transition into adulthood "really difficult." The musician and father of three opened up during a conversation with Jeff Brazier on the On the Mend podcast.
Jeff, a grandfather at 47 and father of two sons with the late Jade Goody, described the love he feels for his granddaughter, Isla Jade, as the "purest version," adding that with 23 years of parenting experience he can love her without "obstructions or any sort of insecurities."
Matt's eldest daughter is now 17
Matt has three children with Strictly host Emma Willis: Isabelle, Ace and Trixie. His eldest, Isabelle, is now 17, attends college and reportedly has a boyfriend. Speaking on the podcast, Matt said: "My eldest is 17 right now, and I think about, like, stages of kids' lives, right? And I'm like, if I'm honest, if she ever watches this, which she won't, but I find this period the hardest, which is so strange 'cos I never thought it would be."
He continued: "But it's like, she's got a boyfriend. She's doing her own thing. She goes to college, you know, but she's... and she's amazing. She's incredible. She's a really powerful independent woman, right? Young woman. And I find it... I don't know."
"I miss her"
Matt admitted: "I miss her, you know, and I find it really difficult at the moment because I don't want to be that guy who goes, 'Hey, what about me?' You know, but I'm like, I'm finding it such a strange period of time, you know?"
He added: "Obviously, you've dealt with that with your boys like that, but kind of like, oh, they're getting older now, and I'm not needed as much as I was, you know. Maybe I am, but in a different way that I haven't fully come to terms with yet."
Jeff responded: "It's like I'm just starting to get to grips with whatever this thing empty nesting is. And I think as men, we might have thought that it only applies to the mums."
Recent comments about his appearance
The comments come after Matt shared his reply after being told by Chris Moyles that his wife needs to "up her game" on the latter's Radio X show earlier this month. Chris, taken by Matt's physical appearance in a post-holiday photo for his new book, described him as "smouldering," noting Matt was "never an ugly man" nor overweight.
Matt replied that "not taking drugs and drinking" every day helps. Chris joked: "Is that what that does? Look what—look at... Emma Willis is lucky, isn't she?" He added: "Let's be honest now, your wife—if I can say—very handsome woman. Very likeable, very talented, lovely, beautiful. She's punching now with this, though, isn't she? She's got to up her game."
Matt said: "Not if social media comments can be taken in. I don't think she'd agree with that, but yeah. Yeah, man, you know, I mean, like I said, you know, not drinking and taking drugs every day does tend to have that effect on you."
