Matt Willis reflects on speaking to his children about his addiction
Matt Willis has been opening up about his struggles with addiction.
The Busted musician has remained honest with his followers about his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Matt, who is married to TV presenter Emma Willis, has now been sober for more than six years.
Now, the father-of-three has taken the opportunity to open up more about his journey with addiction.
Speaking on his podcast On The Mend, Matt was asked by a listener if he has discussed his “personal struggles” with his three children – Isabelle (15), Ace (12) and Trixie (8).
“Yes, I have. My eldest two, anyway. Isabelle is almost 15 and Ace is 12, and I talk to them lots about the reason that I don’t drink. I mean, they’ve known their whole life that Daddy doesn’t drink,” he began.
Referring to his recent BBC documentary Fighting Addiction, Matt explained: “My eldest has watched the documentary we made, and I talked to her before it, and I watched that with her. She asked lots of incredible questions about it.”
“I see myself in my kids, which scares the s**t out of me. You can see the good things and sometimes the bad things. But you know, they’re kids and you have to allow them to be kids. You have to let them make mistakes for themselves,” the 41-year-old continued.
Matt went on to state that he “doesn’t want to keep secrets” from his children.
“I don’t tell my seven-year-old about drugs because I don’t think she needs to hear that, she won’t understand it yet. But, I think once kids are old enough to know about drink and drugs, or they’re experiencing that kind of stuff going on, there’s a talk about addiction to be had,” he stated.
“I want them to be able to talk to me freely, so I do show vulnerability with them and I think that’s important. I show them that I’m not a perfect human and I’m very quick to say sorry to them when I make a mistake,” Matt concluded.
