After undergoing keyhole heart surgery in March last year, TV presenter Emma Willis, who is appearing on Celebrity Sabotage this weekend, revealed that her “perspective on life” has changed.
Born in Sutton Coldfield, the 50-year-old broadcaster shares three children with Busted musician Matt Willis.
She first shared the news of her operation last April 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 soon after.
Following the surgery, Emma announced she had teamed up with the British Heart Foundation in January to share her experience, explaining how her diagnosis affected the way she interacts with her children.
Emma Willis admitted her ‘perspective on life shifted immediately’
In a joint video with the charity, Emma explained that an MRI scan revealed she had “an enlarged heart on one side,” which led to a referral to a cardiologist.
The former Big Brother host said she had “lived for 48 years not knowing that anything was wrong” and had “a million questions going through my head,” all of which her specialist was able to answer.
However, during the appointment, she was also warned, “You absolutely need to have surgery because this will become life-limiting for you at some point.”
Emma described the discovery as terrifying and said her “perspective on life shifted immediately.” She added that she became “the most present” she had ever been while waiting for surgery.
“I was so terrified that something might go wrong during surgery…I literally did anything my kids asked,” Emma said. She added that she tried to be as “happy and as present” as possible for her family and that it is something she has tried to continue since recovering from surgery.
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Emma on undergoing keyhole heart surgery
The TV presenter discussed her heart surgery with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden last year 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 last 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.”
Read more: Emma Willis set for TV return in ‘groundbreaking’ new show Change Your Mind, Change Your Life
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