After undergoing keyhole heart surgery in March, TV presenter Emma Willis has revealed that she will likely be left with a “forever” side effect.
Born in Sutton Coldfield, the 49-year-old broadcaster shares three children with Busted musician Matt Willis.
She first shared the news of her operation on April 23, on Instagram. She later said she was “really anxious and nervous” during the lead up to going under.
But it didn’t take her long to return to showbiz duties. Emma attended the BAFTA TV Craft Award nominees’ party at The V&A on April 24.
This weekend, she’s back with Cooking With The Stars (August 3)…
Emma Willis on undergoing keyhole heart surgery
The TV presenter discussed her heart surgery with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden two months after the op, revealing that it had been “pretty scary”.
“I found out in January and by March I was in on the table and having a little device fitted into my heart to fill a hole that I never knew existed,” she said. “I’ve had it my whole life and just had no idea.”
My heart has got to kind of learn how to refunction hole-free.
She went on to tell Amanda and Jamie that she had always experienced heart palpitations. But she had always written them off as stress-induced. Then, over the past couple of years, they got worse.
“I’ve been having them more and more, and they got to a point where it was quite a lot,” she said. The surgery plugged the hole in her heart. Since then, the frequency of her palpitations has reduced. But it hasn’t stopped them altogether, she revealed.
“I might have them forever,” Emma said. “My heart has got to kind of learn how to refunction hole-free.”
Emma ‘blissfully unaware’ of hole in her heart
In her Instagram post announcing her medical news in April, Emma wrote that she had been “pottering around for 48 years blissfully unaware I had a hole in my heart”.
She called the medical staff that operated on her “real superstars”, and marvelled at the wonders of modern medicine – and the human body.
“Isn’t it bonkers what’s happening in our bodies that we have no idea about?” she wrote.
Around the same time, Matt revealed that their relationship had been “transformed” – in a positive way – thanks to couples’ therapy.
“I don’t think [therapy] is for everyone but I think you’d be surprised with how much you can benefit from it,” he told MailOnline.
“Emma was definitely not up for it when I mentioned it,” he added. “But she’s really pleased we did. It’s been transformative. I think people instantly jump to the fact that you need therapy because you’re in trouble, that’s the pre-conceived notion. But we weren’t in trouble, we just had certain things that we couldn’t get past.”
Emma Willis presents Cooking With The Stars alongside Tom Allen at 7pm on Sunday, on ITV1.
Read more: Emma Willis set for TV return in ‘groundbreaking’ new show Change Your Mind, Change Your Life
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