They’ve been happily married for 13 years and share three children.
And Matt Willis has now revealed his ex-girlfriend caught him flirting with his future wife Emma, who he then thought of as the ‘fit girl from MTV’, during a TV interview.
The Busted star, 37, went on to detail how his The Voice presenter wife, 44, made the first move and used her showbiz contacts to ‘chase’ him when they were both single.
Cheeky! Matt Willis has revealed his ex-girlfriend caught him flirting with his future wife Emma during a TV interview (pictured together in 2019)
Reflecting on his relationship during Vicky Pattison’s podcast The Secret To, Matt explained how he and Emma met during an interview with his band on TRL.
He cheekily recalled: ‘Suddenly we were being interviewed by the fit girl from MTV. I’m not sure you’re allowed to say that these days.
‘I was a bit flirty, it was on tele and the audience was filled with fans and we were being screamed at by 400 girls so I had a bit of a confidence boost. So I thought “I’m gonna use this and seem like everything she could possibly need in her life”.
However things weren’t so simple, with Matt admitting: ‘At the time, she had a boyfriend. I had a girlfriend, who was our TV plugger who was with us!’
‘She chased me!’: The Busted star, 37, went on to detail how his The Voice presenter wife, 44, made the first move and used her showbiz contacts to get his number (pictured in 2006)
Matt brushed any concerns of flirting his ex had off and told her: ‘It’s just flirtation on TV. That’s the way it goes… and in noway did I think she’d [Emma] be interested.’
A few months later Matt and Emma’s paths crossed again while Busted were in the US doing a TV show at the same time as the MTV music awards in Miami.
The dad-of-three said that while walking the red carpet they were spotted by Emma who was interviewing stars on the night and looked ‘amazing’.
Matt said: ‘We met up later and I had the best night of my life. Nothing happened, we didn’t snog or anything. We ended up ditching everyone we were with and that was it. Then we went back to London and didn’t speak for a while.’
The next time they spoke was when things really took off and their relationship got serious – after Emma used her showbiz contacts to get Matt’s number.
‘The rest is history!’: The couple have now been married for 13 years and share three children
Matt explained: ‘I was on Saturday Night Takeaway with Ant and Dec and Blue were on the same night. Emma was at home.
‘She had split up with her boyfriend, she didn’t know I’d split up with my girlfriend and we were both single. Anyway, she knew a guy called Tim Kash who knew Simon from Blue so she asked Tim to get Simon to get my number.
He joked: ‘So I just like to say she chased me! Bear in mind, I didn’t really know those boys [from the band Blue], Busted were quite an unpopular pop act, we didn’t have many pop music friends.
‘Suddenly Simon from Blue hands me a phone and it’s [mutual friend] Tim Kash from MTV and he says, “Emma Griffiths is really trying to get hold of you – do you mind if I give her your number?” And I was like, “yes, here’s my number, tell her to call me”.’
But despite clearly being interested in the TV presenter, Matt played things very cool and waited almost three days to text Emma back.
Proud: It comes after Emma praised their three children for openly ‘expressing themselves’ in a post shared to mark Children’s Mental Health Week last week
He told Vicky Pattison’s podcast: ‘That night, I got a text from Emma Griffiths. I waited two-and-a-half days, it took every ounce of me to do it. What an idiot.
‘Everything in me wanted to say, “hi, I’m on my way”. But I waited. When I did ring her we went to a Scissors Sisters gig, and everything else is history.
‘And now it’s married, three kids… domestic bliss.’
The couple tied the knot three years after meeting and now have children – Isabelle, 11, Ace, nine, and Trixie, four. They renewed their vows in 2018.
Matt’s candid reflections come after Emma praised their children for ‘expressing themselves’ in a post shared to mark Children’s Mental Health Week last week.
The star took to Instagram to share a snap of her offspring showcasing their eclectic styles as she commended them.
Pride and joy: Emma shared this picture of her very cool son Ace wearing his pink T-shirt and sporting long hair on social media last year and later expressed her shock at the outpouring of support she received for posting the image
Captioning the image which showed the children with their backs to the camera, she wrote: ‘Expressing themselves for #childrensmentalhealthweek. Raised in exactly the same way, yet all completely unique.’
Listing each one of their attributes she has come to admire, she continued: ‘My teenager before her time, my boss lady baby and my rainbow boy ❤️.
‘This week I’ve watched them discuss and explore their own mental health with their teachers and class mates and I couldn’t be prouder.
‘I don’t remember experiencing anything like this when I was at school but it’s so obviously necessary for our kids, so their little minds can start to understand their thoughts, feeling, and emotions and that they feel comfortable expressing them.’
Last year, Emma expressed her shock at the outpouring of support she received after sharing a snap of her son Ace wearing a pink top and sporting long blond hair.
Big day: Matt and Emma tied the knot in 2008 and renewed their vows 10 years later in 2018