Matt Willis has expressed his gratitude to Jack Osbourne for aiding him in achieving sobriety following an incident in New Zealand.

The former Busted band member shared his experience from 2008 while filming the series “Adrenaline Junkie.” He admitted that during that period, his drinking habits were excessive, consuming alcohol from the moment he woke until he went to sleep.

After being involved in a physical altercation, Matt’s behavior raised concerns for Jack, who had attained sobriety after entering rehab at 17. Recognizing the issue, Jack extended an offer to Matt for treatment at a rehabilitation center in Los Angeles.

Matt recounted, “We were in a major city in New Zealand, and I had been drinking heavily in the morning. I ended up getting into a fight in the town center and was brought back by the police, all bruised and cut.”

While at the airport, with visible injuries, Matt continued drinking at the bar when Jack approached him. Jack candidly addressed Matt, saying, “I see what you’re doing, and I know you’ve got a problem, Matt.”

Although Jack offered him a spot in rehab, Matt admitted he initially felt “annoyed” by the gesture and reacted “rudely” at the time.

Matt Willis has credited Jack Osbourne for helping him get sober during his battle with alcoholism after he was attacked in New Zealand

Speaking on his On The Mend podcast, he said: ‘I was p****d and I was a d******d, and I was like ”no mate, no I’m just going through a bit of a tough time. I’m all right. Everything’s okay.”

‘And he just sat with me and let say all that b*****t to him, he went ”look I’ve talked to the guy, there’s a place for you. You can be in there tomorrow and it’s going to be all right” And I was like ”no mate, no, you’re off your head see you later.”

‘And I got on the plane back to London instead of going to LA, and then three weeks later I checked myself into rehab. So, he was on the money. It was an amazing thing he did.’

Matt said he finally checked into rehab three weeks later before he was due to marry Emma, after she issued him with an ultimatum.

He said: ‘Emma went away on a work trip, and I was on my own. That’s when things got really scary and really, really dark for me. 

‘And that’s when I checked myself into rehab…

‘[Jack] was the first person who really, truly saw me, saw the b******t I was living in, and called it out.’

Matt then married Emma just three days after he left rehab, with the couple renewing their vows on their tenth wedding anniversary. 

He has now been sober for several years. His 2023 BBC documentary, Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction, won praise for its unflinching look at relapse, recovery and the impact on his family.

The former Busted star said Jack offered him a place at a rehab facility in LA after he was involved in a drunken fight while they were filming a show together

Speaking on his podcast, he reflected on how that film helped him ‘rewrite his story’: ‘I wanted to change the way people looked at addicts. I wanted people to go, “These are people who are struggling – how can we help them?” rather than dismissing them from society.’

He also discussed the process of making amends as part of his recovery – but admitted there’s one person he’s never formally apologised to: Emma.

‘When you do step work, you write down all the bad things you’ve done and go and make amends,’ he explained. ‘The one person I need to make amends to the most is Emma. My wife saw me at my darkest and stuck by me.

‘What I think people would be surprised about is I didn’t make a straightforward amends with her. I didn’t go and say, “I’m sorry”, because I don’t know what I would say. I don’t know if there’s enough words to do it justice and I didn’t want to not do it justice.’

He continued: ‘I was always like, when I feel like I’m in a good enough place, I’ll do it. And when I feel like I’m ready, and I feel like she’ll really appreciate it, I will do it. As time went on, I was like, actually, I think I’m doing it without having to go and say it.

‘It’s not because I’m wimping out… I think instead what I do is choose to be the man I am today for her. And I choose to turn up and I choose to keep promises that I give her. So I actually think I’m making amends to her every day.’

Matt admits that discussing his addiction with their children – Isabelle, 16, Ace, 13, and Trixie, nine – has been among the hardest parts of his recovery.

‘At some point, they’re like, “Why don’t you have a drink? Nanny does, Mummy does occasionally,” he said. ‘When do you tell a kid you’re an alcoholic? What do you say to that? It’s kind of a weird thing for a kid to hear.’

He added: ‘I’ve done it differently every time, but I think I’ve let them understand why I don’t and why, if I did, it wouldn’t be the same person that’s speaking to you now.

‘Something happens to me when I take a drink or I do drugs, I change… everything that’s important in my life goes away. And the only thing that’s important is that. And I don’t want to be that guy ever again, especially for you, because I love you and I want to be the best version that I can for you.’

Now, Matt says he’s finally found peace. ‘Taking control doesn’t mean pretending everything’s fine,’ he said. ‘It means saying, “This is where I am, and I get to decide what happens next”.’