Rumer Willis has revealed the moment she knew her relationship with her daughter's father, Derek Richard Thomas, was over. The 37-year-old actress confirmed her split from the musician in August 2024, a little over a year after the birth of their daughter, Louella, now three.
Willis appeared on Monday's episode of The Inside Edit podcast, hosted by her best friend, Maeve Reilly, and said the flashpoint occurred at Reilly's wedding to Beverly Hills realtor Zach Quittman in June 2024.
'Your wedding literally was a huge reckoning moment for me in my life,' said Willis, whose parents are Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. 'I heard your vows and I just realized that the situation I was in was never going to look like that, no matter how much effort I put in.'
'And I was just watching you guys, just weeping, holding my child, and I just thought, you know what? I need to have more value for myself,' shared the mom-of-one, who recently fired back at parenting critics by sharing a video of her breastfeeding her toddler.
'I need to go and like, leave, no matter how scared I am and find something that looks like this, because I want that. Literally, it was such a huge reckoning and massive moment for me so I will always be grateful.'
Willis added that she's just started to regain her personal power. 'I would say in the last eight months of feeling kind of confident and feeling back into myself after a really challenging relationship,' she went on. 'I try not to speak negatively, but also my truth is that it was really brutal and challenging. I'm so proud of myself.'
'And I'm so proud of myself, you know? I work really hard and I show up for my kid. It's such a privilege to be a mom. It makes me so happy.'
The Dancing with the Stars alum said breaking up with her ex-boyfriend was 'one of the most brutal things' she's ever had to do, but she's 'grateful' for the experience because she now has 'a totally different set of standards and a different thing I'm looking for.'
She then shared she's focusing her energy on finding that next relationship, and hopes to get married next year and have more kids. 'I'm looking for someone who shows up with consistent communication and is interested in pursuing me and wooing me,' Willis asserted, adding that she has dated again.
'I'm gonna meet this wonderful man. I can't wait - I'm gonna have, like, seven more… I want to have like, eight kids. I'm so excited.'
She does have a list of relationship prerequisites, adding: 'If I meet a dude that is not interested in having kids, sorry, got to go. Or someone who is not willing to grow and has an interest in self-reflection and that kind of thing. Sorry, buddy.'
When Reilly asked her if she'd frozen her eggs, Willis candidly replied, 'I've thought about… I think my fertility is kind of crazy.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Willis spoke about her father, Bruce, as he goes through a devastating battle with dementia. 'I'm so grateful I get to go see him, even though it's different now, I'm so grateful,' she said.
'There's a sweetness. He's always been this kind of macho dude and there's like a - fragile is not the right word but - just a tenderness that maybe being Bruce Willis might not have allowed him in a certain way.'
The 71-year-old actor also shares daughters Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 32, with ex-wife Moore; and he has daughters, Mabel, 14, and Evelyn,12, with current wife Emma Heming.
