Matt Willis has revealed that his wife Emma Willis used to give him a brutal three-word nickname. The singer and podcaster opened up about the nickname during an appearance on the Joe Marler Will See You Now podcast, where he was asked what Emma would say if she could describe him in a sentence.
Matt, 43, and Emma, 50, have been married for 18 years after tying the knot in 2008. The couple share three children: Isabelle, Ace, and Trixie. In recent years, both have been open about the challenges of their nearly two decades of marriage.
Nickname explained
Matt explained that Emma used to call him "50 percent Willis" because he would always do only half of a job. He said: "Well she used to call me 50 percent Willis which is, because I’d always do 50 percent of a job. Like, she’d say, ‘You have the best intentions but you can’t ever follow through’."
However, Matt reassured the former Celebrity Traitors contestant that he has since improved. He clarified: "I’m a bit better, I’d say 75. I’m 75 percent Willis."
Couples counselling
This is not the first time the pair have discussed their marriage struggles. In a previous interview on Matt's own On The Mend podcast, he admitted that he and Emma had engaged in couples counselling. He said that at one point they were "never getting anywhere" due to a recurring issue.
He explained: "We had this same thing that was kind of coming up in our relationship. I won't go into too many details, but same thing, same conversation over and over again, never getting anywhere. Once we actually got to the root of what that was, we have never had that problem ever again. And it was so small when I think about it, you know, but it was actually massive."
Matt added: "You know, and now, looking back at it, I was like, 'That was everything that was holding us away from truly loving'."
The couple made it through the counselling, and both continue to enjoy successful presenting careers. Emma is due to appear on Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One at 6:15pm and on The Voice on ITV at 8:35pm.
