Emma Willis breaks down over Matt Willis’ alcoholism
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Matt Willis, 39, has been very open about his battle with addiction throughout his early life and why he has chosen to stay sober. In a new interview, the Busted co-vocalist spoke candidly about his battle with addiction and how his children have influenced his decision.
I can’t control myself once I do that.
Matt Willis
Matt has been married to Emma Willis since 2008 and the couple share three children.
He gained fame in the noughties rock band Busted, and most recently has tried his hand at acting, having roles in shows such as Birds of a Feather and EastEnders.
In his early days of fame, the singer turned actor battled with alcohol and drug addiction.
Matt was asked by Annie O’Leary and Wendy Golledge about his addiction on their Sweat, Snot and Tears podcast.
They said: “You have been very open about past addictions and all the joys, and traumas, and tribulations.
“Are you open with the kids about it? Do you worry that it is something that might be in them? Do you talk to them openly about it?”
Matt admitted: “I think it’s something that’s in a lot of people. I’m very open about it.
“I’ve recently kind of been a bit more open about it because my daughter who is turning 13 is going to things and seeing things and seeing people behave a certain way. Not her friends, but family events.
“There has been a few times in the past when they’ve asked ‘Why don’t you drink Daddy?'”
Matt then revealed that he is honest with his children about his addiction, in order to prevent them from making the same mistakes.
He continued: “I’ve kind of just said I can’t. You know, I can’t control myself once I do that.
“Once I have something that alters my state of mind, I can’t control what happens next and so I don’t, because I like who I am. When I do that, I don’t like who I am.
“Other people in our family drink, like Emma, who has a drink occasionally but I haven’t seen her drunk for years, but it’s not in our house.”
Matt spoke out last year about not hiding his past from his children, after giving up drinking, drugs and smoking completely.
Speaking to Fabulous magazine, he said: “I quit alcohol a few months into Isabelle’s life and I just hope she wasn’t impacted by [me drinking] at all.
“They’ve never known me to drink, but they’ve noticed I don’t do it and I’ve been very open about why I don’t, so it’s not really a big deal to them.
“We’ve talked about it and they know what I’m about and why I don’t do these things.
“They understand the words, although I try not to use them because they’re quite scary – words like ‘alcoholic’ and ‘addict’. So I say: ‘It doesn’t work for me, I can’t do that’, and that’s enough.”
Matt went on to explain his children were shocked to discover he had been a smoker in the past when they found a photo of him with a cigarette.
He said: “It was obvious I had been ‘on it’ but I also had a fag hanging out of my mouth and that’s what they were like: ‘Oh my god, Daddy!’ about!
“It was a very interesting discovery for them, I think!”
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