Emma Willis is missing from a secret family WhatsApp group her husband Matt uses to arrange McDonald’s trips.
The Busted musician shared the arrangement on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell podcast. However, the Strictly Come Dancing presenter can discover where they have gone through the family’s Life360 app.
The discussion also covered Emma and Matt’s smartphone documentary, which prompted him to rethink their children’s phone use.
Emma Willis left out of the McDonald’s plans
Matt said the chat includes their two older children, with the trio using it to organise their fast-food outings.
The group is called Golden Arches, and he said Emma “does not approve.”
His invitation is simple: “So I will just message them just a question mark”. The children reply quickly, he said, before they head off together. But the plan has one obvious flaw.
Matt said Emma tracks their location and lets them know she can see where they have gone.
“But she’ll [Emma], track us there and she’ll go ‘I see you’, so that’s when it falls down,” he said.
Matt Willis on his children’s accents
Elsewhere, Matt reflected on how differently his children speak compared with their parents.
He described them as “quite posh”, despite his working-class background and Emma’s Birmingham roots.
Matt grew up in South London, while Emma comes from Sutton Coldfield. He said her Brummie accent becomes stronger around people she grew up with.
Meanwhile, he notices his own voice changing when he is with the children. He admitted he likes sounding a little posher around them.
Matt Willis rethinks smartphones after Channel 4 documentary
Matt also discussed Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones, the two-part Channel 4 programme he presented with Emma.
The project involved Year 8 pupils at The Stanway School in Colchester. They were encouraged to give up their phones and social media accounts for 21 days.
Matt said he began with an open mind because smartphones are so embedded in everyday life. However, the experience changed his view of their impact on children.
He said: “It definitely made us think twice.”
He also described a practical obstacle when his older children started secondary school. According to Matt, they needed smartphones to access homework and timetables.
Despite those requirements, he said their youngest child would not have one.
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