Emma Willis
Willis in 2014
Born
Emma Louise Griffiths

(1976-03-18) 18 March 1976
Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England
OccupationBroadcaster
Years active2002–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2008)​
Children3

Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976)[1] is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.[2][3][4] Willis has presented Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother (2013–2018), as well as the spin-off series Big Brother's Bit on the Side (2011–2015). She has presented The Voice UK (2014–present), and the children's spin-off The Voice Kids UK (2017–2023). In 2019 and 2021, Willis presented the second and third series of The Circle. She will be co-hosting Love Is Blind: UK with her husband Matt Willis.

Early life

Emma Willis was born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham,[5] attending Wylde Green Primary School and then John Willmott School in Sutton Coldfield.[6] She began modelling at the age of 15,[7] and during her career worked for a range of magazines, retailers and companies including Marie Claire, Elle, Vogue, GAP and Chanel.[8]

Career

Willis got her first big break presenting on MTV in 2002 before presenting various other shows, including guest-hosting shows such as CD:UK, This Morning and Loose Women.

ITV

In 2007, Willis presented ITV2 spin-off series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! with her husband Matt before departing in 2008. She presented numerous episodes of The Hot Desk on ITV2 between 2008 and 2014. In September 2012, Willis became a permanent presenter on This Morning, presenting segments in The Hub, taking over from Coleen Nolan. The feature was axed in 2014. She was also a stand-in presenter on the main show when Holly Willoughby or Ruth Langsford were absent[9] and returned to guest present the show with Rylan Clark-Neal in 2018. Willis hosted two series of the ITV2 reality show Girlfriends in 2012 and 2013.[10]

On 16 November 2012, Willis was drafted in to guest anchor Loose Women and has since presented on several occasions as a stand-in presenter. In 2013, Willis guest presented an episode of The Paul O'Grady Show, while O'Grady was away.[11]

In 2013, Willis co-presented the ITV game show Prize Island with Alexander Armstrong.[12] In 2015, Willis was a team captain on the six-part ITV2 comedy panel show Reality Bites, hosted by Stephen Mulhern.[13] On 2 July 2015, it was announced that Willis would present a new three-part series for ITV called What Would Be Your Miracle, about modern miracles. The series began on 28 April 2016.[14][15][16] In January 2017, The Voice UK moved from BBC One to ITV. It was confirmed on 9 June 2016 that Willis would present the series after co-hosting three previous series on the BBC.[17] She also presented two series of The Voice Kids on ITV since 2017. In 2017, she presented The BRITs Are Coming live on ITV. She co-presented the 2017 BRIT Awards in February alongside Dermot O'Leary.[18] She hosted The BRITs Are Coming for a second year in 2018. She presented Your Song in 2017, a one-off special for ITV.

On 3 March 2018, Willis made a surprise appearance on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, as she presented Win the Ads while the main hosts playing the game as part of the show's 100th episode.

Channel 4

In 2007, Willis guest hosted the tenth week of Big Brother's Big Mouth. In 2010, Willis began presenting a Celebrity Big Brother online spin-off show entitled Celebrity Big Brother's Big i. While presenting the online spin-off in the same series, Willis also presented another edition of Big Mouth when Davina McCall entered the Big Brother house as part of a task. She was then later announced as the new co-presenter on the final series of Big Brother's Little Brother, hosting opposite George Lamb.

In 2019, Willis replaced Alice Levine and Maya Jama as host of The Circle.

Channel 5

In 2010, it was announced that Willis would replace Melinda Messenger on the Channel 5 series Live from Studio Five, but after only two months, Willis announced she would be departing in order to co-present Big Brother's Little Brother and was therefore replaced by Jayne Middlemiss.[19]

In 2011, it was confirmed that she would be returning to the revived series, presenting the spin-off show Big Brother's Bit on the Side.

On 13 March 2013, it was reported that Brian Dowling would be axed from Big Brother[20] and be replaced by Willis with a source saying, 'Brian has been a great host but Emma is seen by channel chiefs as a true successor to Davina. They're talking to her now about taking over the role from the summer.'[2] It was later confirmed, on 2 April 2013 by Channel 5 that Willis would be replacing Dowling as the new host of Big Brother.[4][21] On 13 June 2013, she began presenting the fourteenth series of Big Brother.

Even though Willis presents the main Big Brother and celebrity series, she still continued to host the spin-off show Bit on the Side, sharing the presenting duties with Rylan Clark. On 2 February 2015, it was announced that Willis was to present her final edition of Bit on the Side that night, and Clark would take over as the main presenter of the spin off show.[22]

Willis infamously interrogated Winston McKenzie during his exit interview on Celebrity Big Brother over his controversial opinions. Willis has expressed personal pride on this moment in her career.[23]

On 30 March 2014, Willis presented the Mum of the Year Awards, with the highlights being shown on Channel 5 that same evening.[24]

BBC

In 2013, Willis was confirmed as the replacement for Holly Willoughby on the BBC One talent show The Voice UK. On 11 January 2014, she began co-presenting the third series with JLS singer Marvin Humes, who replaced Reggie Yates.[25]

In March 2014, it was announced that The Voice UK had been renewed for two future series.[26] Both Willis and Humes returned to the show for the fourth series in 2015 and fifth series in 2016. The show was axed by the BBC after series 5 and moved to ITV in 2017.

Willis, and Reggie Yates co-hosted the Saturday night game show Prized Apart on BBC One. The series began on 13 June 2015 and was axed after the first series, due to poor ratings.[27]

Willis is also a guest presenter on The One Show from time to time.

Radio

On 5 August 2012, Willis began co-presenting Sunday Morning Breakfast with Stephen Mulhern across the Heart network.

Other work

In 2015, she became the celebrity ambassador for Gillette Venus and Oral-B.[28]

On 21 March 2023, Willis partnered with Absolute Collagen for their 'Strong in your own skin' campaign.[29]

Awards

In September 2013, Willis received a longlist nomination for Most Popular Entertainment Presenter at the National Television Awards in 2014. It was her second successive longlist nomination for the award.[30]

Personal life

On 5 July 2008, Emma Griffiths married Busted member Matt Willis at Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, after three years of dating. The wedding was featured in OK magazine.[31] She gave birth to their first child, Isabelle, in June 2009.[32] In November 2011, the couple had a second child, Ace, and in May 2016, Willis gave birth to her third child, Trixie.[33][34]

In an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, Willis confirmed that she has longstanding roots in Birmingham, with her family tree being traced back to her great-great-great-grandfather, who was named James Gretton and was listed as a Horn and Hair Merchant in the census records.[35] She also found she had Irish ancestors, a fact that came as a surprise to her. The revelations about her ancestry left her extremely uncomfortable with the actions of one, who she discovered was a violent Orangeman, but overall she was happy to have found a connection to her more broad Irish heritage.[36]

Willis is a supporter of Aston Villa F.C.[37]

In 2019, Willis obtained a qualification as a maternity care assistant following her experience on the W series Delivering Babies.[38]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Willis and her husband completed training with St John Ambulance to act as vaccination volunteers.[39]

In 2023, Willis was featured in the documentary, Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction. The documentary, which aired on the BBC on 17 May 2023, followed Willis and her husband as they spoke about the latter's addiction issues.[40][41][42]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002–2003 MTV UK Presenter
2003–2005 Total Request Live
2005, 2007, 2010 Big Brother's Big Mouth Guest presenter
2007–2008 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! Co-presenter 2 series
2008–2014 The Hot Desk Presenter Various episodes
2008 Red Bull Flugtag Co-presenter
27 Dresses: Movie Special Presenter
2010 Live from Studio Five Co-presenter
The Real Hustle Herself
Big Brother's Little Brother Co-presenter 1 series
2011–2015 Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side 8 series
2011–2014 Big Brother's Bit on the Side 4 series
2012–2014, 2018 This Morning "Hub" presenter Regular
2012–2014, 2018, 2023–present Stand-in presenter 11 episodes
2012–2013, 2021 Loose Women Anchor 8 episodes
2012–2013 Girlfriends[43] Presenter 2 series
2013 Speidi: Scandal, Secrets & Surgery! Narrator One-off episode
Prize Island Co-presenter 1 series
The Paul O'Grady Show Guest presenter 1 episode
2013–2018 Big Brother Presenter 6 series
2013–2018 Celebrity Big Brother 11 series
2014–present The Voice UK 8 Series
2015 Reality Bites[44] Team captain 1 series
Prized Apart[45] Co-presenter 1 series
2016 What Would Be Your Miracle?[46] Presenter 1 series
BRITs Icon: Robbie Williams Narrator One-off episode
2017 BRIT Awards Co-presenter 37th event
2017–2023 The Voice Kids Presenter 5 series
2017 Your Song[47][48] One-off episode
2017–2018 The Keith & Paddy Picture Show Janine Melnitz/Rizzo 2 episodes
2018–present Emma Willis: Delivering Babies[49] Presenter Documentary series
2019 Comic Relief Presenter Telethon
Pants on Fire
2019–2021 The Circle Series 2 - Series 3
2021 The Celebrity Circle Series 1
Cooking with the Stars Co-presenter Series 1
Emma and AJ Get to Work Co-presenter Alongside AJ Odudu
2022 The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C Herself Series 5; episode 1
The Great Home Transformation Co-presenter With Nick Grimshaw[50]
The World Cook Co-presenter With Fred Sirieix[51]
2023 Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction Herself BBC documentary
Love Is Blind: UK Co-presenter
Radio
Year Station Show Role
2012–2018 Heart Network Sunday Mornings Co-presenter

References

  1. ↑ Cains, Eleanor (18 March 2014). "Celebrity birthdays: 5 things you didn't know about Emma Willis". Yahoo! Celebrity. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 Big Brother: Brian Dowling to be replaced by Emma Willis as host? – Big Brother News – Reality TV. Digital Spy (13 March 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Leigh, Rob. (13 March 2013) Big Brother: Emma Willis 'in running to take over from Brian Dowling' – Mirror Online. Daily Mirror. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 Emma Willis replaces Brian Dowling as presenter of ‘Big Brother’ Archived 18 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Telly Spy (2 April 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Emma Willis in gear for Style In The City". Birmingham Post. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.suttoncoldfieldobserver.co.uk/big-brother-star-emma-willis-and-husband-matt-open-wylde-green-primary-school-classrooms/story-30459107-detail/story.html%5B%5D
  7. ↑ Morris, Brogan. "10 Things You Didn't Know About Emma Willis". Eighties Kids. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Hebenton, Alana. "INTERVIEWING EMMA WILLIS". Baby Surrey. Archived from the original on 2 November 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Emma Willis | Presenters & Experts | This Morning. Itv.com (4 September 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Girlfriends to return for a second series". ITV Press Centre.
  11. ↑ Rachel Tarley (20 November 2013). "'Drunk and/or rude' June Brown criticised after odd stint on The Paul O'Grady Show – Metro News". Metro.
  12. ↑ Emma Willis show 'Prize Island' to be axed by ITV? – TV News. Digital Spy (25 June 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Reality Bites". ITV Press Centre.
  14. ↑ "Modern miracles to be shown in new ITV series with Emma Willis". ITV Press Centre. ITV. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "A Modern Miracle?". ITV Studios. ITV. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Agius, Nicola (3 July 2015). "Emma Willis beams with delight after landing emotional new presenting job on ITV's The Miracle". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "Emma Willis to host The Voice UK". Press Centre. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  18. ↑ Mitchell, Bea (31 January 2017). "Dermot O'Leary and Emma Willis to host Brit Awards 2017". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  19. ↑ Emma Willis quits Live From Studio Five | Unreality TV Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk (14 May 2010). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Brian Dowling Axed?". Being Big Brother. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  21. ↑ Emma Willis replaces Brian Dowling as new Channel 5 Big Brother host – Big Brother News – Reality TV. Digital Spy (2 April 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  22. ↑ Alistair McGeorge (2 February 2015). "Emma Willis QUITS Celebrity Big Brother Bit On The Side: Host's last episode to air tonight". mirror.
  23. ↑ "Emma Willis defends "infuriating" Celeb BB Winston interview".
  24. ↑ Emma Willis revealed as Tesco Mum of the Year Awards host. Tescoliving.com (20 March 2014). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  25. ↑ Big Brother's Emma Willis announced as new presenter of 'The Voice' UK – The Voice News – Reality TV. Digital Spy (14 September 2013). Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  26. ↑ The Voice UK renewed for two more series – The Voice News – Reality TV. Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  27. ↑ Alex Fletcher (11 December 2014). "Emma Willis, Reggie Yates to host new BBC Saturday night show Prized Apart". Digital Spy.
  28. ↑ Daniel Falconer (9 October 2015). "Emma Willis exclusive interview – Oral-B, dental hygiene and encouraging kids to brush their teeth".
  29. ↑ "Emma Willis launches 'Strong in your own skin' campaign with Absolute Collagen". 21 March 2023.
  30. ↑ 2014 National Television Awards – Longlist Nominations Digital Spy. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  31. ↑ "Matt Willis weds Emma Griffiths fresh out of rehab". Daily Mirror. MGN Limited. 6 July 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  32. ↑ "Willis, Griffiths welcome baby daughter". Digital Spy Limited. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  33. ↑ "Thank you so much for all your lovely messages. Trixie arrived in the world on Wednesday. May the 4th be with her indeed!'". Twitter. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  34. ↑ "Emma Willis and husband Matt welcome third baby'". Hello Magazine. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  35. ↑ "TheGenealogist's featured article on Emma Willis". TheGenealogist. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  36. ↑ "TheGenealogist's featured article on Emma Willis". TheGenealogist. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  37. ↑ "FA Cup: Arsenal and Aston Villa celebrity fans". BBC News. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  38. ↑ West, Amy; Turner, Laura Jane (5 August 2019). "Delivering Babies' Emma Willis discusses future away from reality television". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  39. ↑ Davies, Alan (28 March 2021). "Celebrity Herts couple complete volunteer vaccination training with St John Ambulance". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  40. ↑ "TV tonight: Matt Willis is brutally honest about his addiction". The Guardian. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  41. ↑ Day, Harvey (17 May 2023). "Busted's Matt Willis: I'm nervous about my kids seeing my drug and alcohol past". BBC News. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  42. ↑ Jobling, Phoebe (15 May 2023). "Matt Willis says he 'won't relapse' on Busted tour as he shares daughter's 'incredible' reaction to addiction documentary". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  43. ↑ Three Archived 24 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine ITV Press Centre, 3 May 2012
  44. ↑ Alfie Green (7 May 2016). "ITV 2 launches new show 'Reality Bites' staring Emma Willis – Reality Box – Latest TV, Music, Entertainment, Soap News". Reality Box.
  45. ↑ "Prized Apart: Coming Soon to BBC One". Emma Willis.
  46. ↑ Ben Lee (2 July 2015). "Emma Willis is hosting a new ITV series about modern medical 'miracles'". Digital Spy.
  47. ↑ Darvill, Josh (22 October 2017). "Your Song: Emma Willis hosts new show featuring Little Mix and James Arthur". TellyMix. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  48. ↑ "Your Song, hosted by Emma Willis, to air on ITV this autumn". Press Centre. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  49. ↑ "Emma Willis: Delivering Babies | W Channel". w.uktv.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  50. ↑ "The Great Home Transformation". channel4.com. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  51. ↑ "The World Cook". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
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