Emma Heming Willis is sharing new details about how her love story with Bruce Willis began, even as she continues to care for the Hollywood star amid his battle with dementia.
Willis, 71, and Heming, 50, married in 2009 and went on to build a family together, welcoming two daughters: Mabel, now 14, and Evelyn, 12.
Their first meeting came several years earlier, in 2005, when they were introduced after crossing paths at the Los Angeles gym run by celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson.
At the time, Heming was an established model who had appeared on Victoria’s Secret runways and was named one of Maxim’s Top 100 most beautiful women that year. Willis, meanwhile, was already a major Hollywood figure, though Heming said she had “never really thought about” him before because action films were not her thing.
Still, the encounter made an impression. Heming recalled telling her mother afterward how “lovely” Willis was, only to get a pointed reminder that she was already engaged to someone else.
It was not until “years later, after my engagement fizzled,” that Heming and Willis eventually began dating, she revealed during an appearance on Today veteran Hoda Kotb’s podcast Making Space.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for both Willis and Heming for additional comment.
Emma Heming Willis has opened up about the early days of her romance with Bruce Willis as she supports him through his dementia decline; the couple are pictured in 2009, the year they married
When they met in 2005, Heming was a model who that year was named one of Maxim’s Top 100 beautiful women and had walked the 2001 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (pictured)
In 2023, Willis’ family announced that his aphasia had ‘progressed’ and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Although Heming declined to name her ex-fiancé on the podcast, the man in question was Los Angeles nightlife entrepreneur Brent Bolthouse, who later featured on The Hills and now owns the Santa Monica hot spot The Bungalow.
The Daily Mail has contacted Bolthouse’s representative for comment.
Heming recalled that she and Willis met ‘at the gym, like most people in Hollywood do, I guess. His time was before mine and we would sort of overlap.’
She was struck by ‘how warm and charismatic, how funny he was, but always really took the time to want to learn more about me, more about who I was, about my life.’
The Malta-born fashionista alleged that ‘prior to that, I’d never really thought about Bruce Willis. I grew up watching Moonlighting, but I was never an action movie fan.’
Willis first rocketed to nationwide heartthrob status on Moonlighting, a 1980s detective series starring him opposite The Last Picture Show actress Cybill Shepherd.
‘So, when I had noticed him, I had said to my mother: “You know, 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.” And I said: “No, no, no!” Heming said with a laugh.
She confessed: ‘Yes, at the time, I was engaged to be married, but I had met him and I had just noticed that. And it wasn’t until years later, until after my engagement fizzled – thankfully – that we went on our first date, and I just really loved being around him.’
Heming fondly remembered: ‘There was just something really warm, safe and fun. My husband is just so full of life and it was a really beautiful time.’
Although Heming declined to name her ex-fiancé on the podcast, the man in question was Los Angeles nightlife entrepreneur Brent Bolthouse, whom she is pictured with in 2006
After her initial encounter with Willis, she told her mother how ‘lovely’ he was, only to be sternly reminded she was in fact engaged to another man; Heming and Willis pictured 2008
She and Willis made their way down the aisle in 2009, about 11 years on from his separation from his first wife Demi Moore; Willis and Heming pictured that year
She and Willis made their way down the aisle in 2009, about 11 years on from his separation from his first wife Demi Moore, with whom he amicably co-parented his three eldest daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 35, and Tallulah, 32.
Shortly after marrying, Willis and Heming sat for a joint profile in which he raved: ‘I went from: “F*** love,” to: “Love is truly the answer.” I spent the last 10 years single and, for the most part, unhappy. In a dark place,’ via W.
‘I never thought that being with someone else was the answer. I would say: “I’m alone, but I’m not lonely.” But I was just kidding myself. Then I started hanging around Emma, and on a day-to-day basis my life became much happier.’
Willis withdrew from Hollywood in 2022 after developing the brain condition aphasia, which causes the patient’s language abilities to deteriorate.
In 2023, his family announced that his illness had ‘progressed’ and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Heming, Moore and all of Willis’ daughters rallied around him, and Heming has since released a bestselling book about his illness called The Unexpected Journey.
In a joint couple’s interview promoting the memoir, Heming revealed that the ‘hardest decision’ she took while looking after Willis was moving him into a separate one-story house away from their primary residence.
He lives there with a full-time care team, while Heming brings Mabel and Evelyn to visit him ‘a lot,’ including for breakfast and dinner, she told Diane Sawyer on ABC.
Willis has seen Heming and their daughters rally around him, as well as his first wife Demi Moore and their three daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 35, and Tallulah, 32
‘Bruce would want that for our daughters,’ Heming insisted. ‘He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.’
Days after the broadcast aired, Heming complained on Instagram that she had been criticized online for shifting Willis into a separate house.
She argued she had been judged ‘quickly and unfairly,’ saying viewers were split between ‘people with an opinion versus people with an actual experience.’
A family insider informed the Daily Mail last year that the Die Hard icon was ‘going downhill fast’ to the point he ‘doesn’t know some faces’ anymore.
The source said Willis’ daughters were ‘all spending as much time with him as they can,’ adding: ‘He lights up when he sees his children.’
