How Emma and Matt Willis overcame his cocaine addiction to become TV’s new golden couple – and the huge job she turned down because she wants to work with him

Ever since Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langford dramatically retired from daytime television in 2021, TV executives have been looking for a new powerhouse couple to take their place on the nation’s screens.

But who could fill the void on the couch left by the couple whose double act ended this year with the collapse of their marriage?

The answer could lie with a couple who would once have laughed off the idea of ​​being the new Mr and Mrs of British TV.

Step forward, Emma and Matt Willis.

They have already hosted a number of lucrative shows on ITV, Channel 4 and Netflix, where they front Love Is Blind, and are being touted by their agent as the next big thing.

An insider at talent agency YMU, which also represents Ant and Dec, and Davina McCall, said: ‘They have huge potential and are determined to make 2025 their biggest year yet.’

The company is on the hunt for the perfect show for The Voice presenter Emma and 2006 I’m A Celebrity winner Matt, who have been married for 16 years and have three children. They want to find a vehicle that gives the Willises the kind of profile enjoyed by Eamonn and Ruth, or their predecessors on ITV’s This Morning, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan.

But while those two couples climbed their way into primetime TV after years of journalism, the Willises’ journey was less conventional.

Former model and party girl Emma, ​​48, got her first TV break on music video channel MTV in 2002. Matt, meanwhile, was a guitarist in the pop-punk band Busted, who struggled with drug addiction and admitted to snorting six grams of cocaine a day during his darkest period.

According to a TV insider: ‘Richard and Judy worked their way around Granada as journalists before landing a primetime slot. And Eamonn and Ruth worked hard on regional television before appearing on national television. Emma may have made her mark as an announcer in twenty years. But many think she is now taking her husband with her, despite a visible lack of talent.”

Emma and Matt met when she interviewed him in 2004. He was a 21-year-old pop star who wore heavy makeup to hide his acne, and was desperate to be “the hot girl from MTV,” seven years his senior.

As their relationship blossomed, the pair were often spotted out of pubs in North London. ‘Emma and I were party friends for a year. Drinking buddies… who did other things,” Matt has said.

What Emma didn’t know at the time was that her boyfriend had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction since becoming famous at the age of 19. Just six months into their relationship, he went to rehab. Three weeks after his departure he was partying again. But despite the relapses, Emma continued to support him.

Former model Emma and Busted guitarist Matt met when she interviewed him in 2004

Just six months into their relationship, Matt went to rehab. They are pictured outside London’s Movida nightclub in 2006

A year after winning I’m A Celebrity… Matt proposed to Emma on her birthday during a weekend away in Venice. A star-studded ceremony followed in July 2008, attended by Ms Willoughby and Jason Donovan, among others. But while Emma beamed for the cameras just three days earlier, Matt had begun rehabilitation for a third time.

The couple had three children, and Emma must have hoped for a while that the new family had eradicated Matt’s addiction, but he relapsed again in 2017 during the Busted reunion tour. Their daughter Trixie was only ten months old.

According to Matt, “That last relapse was really hard for her because we had three kids. I had been sober for eight years, we thought it was over.”

It almost proved too much and the couple sought marriage counseling, which friends say has made them “stronger than ever.”

In a documentary, Emma said: ‘It’s very easy to look at a situation that you’re not directly involved in and say, ‘F*** that, get out of there’, but once you’re in it, you guys have that history together… And when you love someone, you’re not going anywhere.

‘It’s not easy. Sometimes I feel like I have four children instead of three. There was a lot of joy, but it was also incredibly hard at times.”

According to a friend, “If you see them together on TV, you would never realize how close they came to breaking up. All marriages have their ups and downs, but what Emma and Matt have gone through is extraordinary.”

Some even say the issues make them seen as relatable by executives, who increasingly want them on their shows.

In 2021, Emma presented ITV’s Cooking With The Stars with Matt as a contestant, and a space on Celebrity Gogglebox soon followed. This summer, they signed on to Netflix’s Love Is Blind for a seven-figure salary. And this month they presented a Channel 4 documentary Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones. They are said to be in discussions about more C4 documentaries for 2025.

The couple are so determined to work together that Emma has turned down the chance to replace Holly Willoughby full-time on This Morning

Insiders at their agency say there is also hope that Matt, with his music background, could join the judging panel of The Voice, which Emma hosts.

In fact, I can reveal that the couple are so determined to work together that Emma has turned down the chance to replace Holly full-time on This Morning, having joined the revolving carousel of part-time presenters following her abrupt departure last October.

ITV bosses were desperate to keep her, but a friend said she couldn’t bear to be away from her children Isabelle, 15, Ace, 13, and Trixie, eight: ‘She wants time with her family, so she takes every opportunity to work with Matt.”

Because she has been through so much, she would also protect her husband. A friend said: ‘Expect to see a lot more of them together on screen. They are well aware that Matt’s latest relapse was caused by him being alone and away from his family. Emma wants to work with him more than ever and keep him on the right path.’