Bruce Willis’s Wife Emma Heming Recalls Being Engaged to Someone Else When They First Met
Bruce Willis’s Wife Emma Heming Recalls Being Engaged to Someone Else When They First Met
Hannah MalachWed, August 5, 2026 at 11:47 PM UTC
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Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2019.Credit: Getty ImagesThe Gist -
Emma Heming Willis appeared on the latest episode of Hoda Kotb’s podcast.
She discussed meeting her husband of nearly 20 years, Bruce Willis.
“I met him in like 2005, I want to say, and we met at the gym, like most people in Hollywood do, I guess,” she shared.
Emma Heming Willis is opening up about how she met her husband of nearly 20 years, Bruce Willis. The model and actress appeared on the latest episode of Hoda Kotb’s “Making Space” podcast.
“I met him in like 2005, I want to say, and we met at the gym, like most people in Hollywood do, I guess,” she shared.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2019.Credit: Getty Images
“His time was before mine and we would sort of overlap, and the things I remember about him was just how warm and charismatic, how funny he was, but he always really took the time to want to learn more about me,” Emma, 50, added. “Just more about who I was, about my life, and prior to that I had never really thought about Bruce Willis.”
“I grew up watching Moonlighting, but I was never really an action movie fan,” she continued. “So when I had noticed him, I had said to my mother ‘I met Bruce Willis, and he’s really a lovely man.’ And my mom was like, ‘What are you doing? You’re engaged to be married.’ I said, ‘No, no, no’—yes, at the time, I was engaged to be married, but I had met him and I just noticed that.”
It wasn’t until “years later,” after Emma’s engagement “fizzled,” that they went on their first date.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2008Credit: Getty
“I just really loved being around him,” Emma recalled. “There was just something very warm, safe and fun. My husband is just so full of life, and it was a really beautiful time. It was a really great time in our lives.”
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Emma married Bruce in 2009, and they share two daughters. The author has since become her husband’s primary caregiver after he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia a few years ago.
Last month, Emma dispelled a common “misconception” related to the disorder. Appearing on “The Bossticks” podcast on June 15, Emma explained that there are “three different variants” of dementia.
Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis in 2019.Credit: Getty Images
“The one that Bruce has affects language, but there’s another variant that will affect behavior and another one that could affect movement,” she said.
Emma clarified that the illness doesn’t affect Bruce’s memory.
“That’s a different part of the brain. So when people say, ‘Oh, you know, does he remember who you are?’ Well, he does because he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, he has FTD,” Emma explained. “I think that’s a very common misconception that, when you think of dementia, we think of memory loss.”
on InStyle
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
