Matt Willis has revealed that he turned to drugs and alcohol after feeling ‘less than’ in ‘pretty much every situation’ in his life.
The Busted singer, 41, spoke candidly on the Mail’s Life of Bryony podcast with Bryony Gordon which was released on Monday about his struggles and journey to sobriety.
In a deeply personal and inspiring conversation, Matt opened up about his journey through addiction, recovery, and relapse.
He also shared his struggles with feelings of discomfort in his own skin and how these challenges shaped his dependency on substances.
Matt explained why he turned to drugs and alcohol: ‘I’ve always felt less than in pretty much every situation I go into, you know, and I always felt like everyone just thought I was a bit of a d**k.
‘And that I’d be better off not there and then I found drinking drugs and it went away and it was a solution to my problem until it became my problem that I needed a solution from.
Matt Willis has revealed that he turned to drugs and alcohol after feeling ‘less than’ in ‘pretty much every situation’ in his life
The Busted singer, 41, spoke candidly on the Mail’s Life of Bryony podcast with Bryony Gordon which was released on Monday about his struggles and journey to sobriety
‘t gave me everything I didn’t have. It gave me confidence, it gave me ability to talk to people, to talk to girls, to talk to adults.
‘I was 19 in a world of music and adults and stuff, and I didn’t know how to behave and suddenly I was like, oh right, we can get on it, and everyone’s caught.’
He added: ‘It gave me all that, and then, you know, first it’d give it, then it’d take it away, you know, and, um, And it slowly became the opposite. It was suddenly the person no one wanted to call, no one wanted to invite to anything.
Matt also recalled what saved him from his addiction, explaining: ‘What saved me was another addict.
‘I very vividly remember the first time the light bulb got switched on, you know, and it was from another addict who said something to me which I can’t say because I’ll f***ing break down but it was another addict who saved me and changed my life.
‘And I have everything to thank for that moment, and I had to keep working at it, but that was part of the message was that this is not going away. You can’t shove it away anymore.’
‘You have to address it. You’re probably gonna have to address it every day, but it’s worth it And that’s been my experience, you know, it has been worth it and it was really hard at times but now it’s not quite so hard.
‘When I say not quite so hard, it’s nowhere near as f***ing hard. Life is pretty awesome right now, you know, and that’s achievable for people.’
In a deeply personal and inspiring conversation, Matt opened up about his journey through addiction, recovery, and relapse
He also shared his struggles with feelings of discomfort in his own skin and how these challenges shaped his dependency on substances
Matt explained why he turned to drugs and alcohol: ‘I’ve always felt less than in pretty much every situation I go into, you know, and I always felt like everyone just thought I was a bit of a d**k’
The boy band star struggled to stay sober for most of his adult life after being launched to fame at just 19 years old.
He entered rehab three times before he turned 25 – including once shortly before he married his The Voice presenter wife, Emma, 48, in 2008.
Though he is now sober, Matt relapsed once more in 2017 while on the Busted reunion tour when his youngest daughter Trixie was just ten months old.
Speaking to previously about his addiction, he admitted: ‘Addicts are very good at hiding everything. I’m yet to meet a stupid addict. They’re conniving and manipulative.
‘It’s not rock ‘n’ roll. It wasn’t glamorous, it was really sad.’
In his early 20s the singer said couldn’t get to lunchtime without drugs or alcohol.
Later, on the 2017 tour, he ‘was doing six grams (of cocaine) on my own every day and not coming home until three in the morning’ – a month after he started taking the drug again.
Matt made a documentary Fighting Addiction with the BBC last year.
He said at the time that making the documentary made him realise the impact his addiction was having on Emma, who would often break down in tears over fears he could relapse.
‘It was hard for me to see how much that fear was still prevalent for her,’ Willis said, before adding that the documentary made the couple ‘realise that we still had some talking to do’.
He entered rehab three times before he turned 25 – including once shortly before he married his The Voice presenter wife, Emma, 48, in 2008 (seen with Emma in September 2024)
Matt previously shared some of the harsh realities from his drug addiction battle and the toll it took on his relationship with his wife.
The star candidly admitted he would ‘gaslight’ Emma into thinking she was crazy during the height of his addiction struggles.
Ever feel like life is a bit…too much? Bestselling author and journalist Bryony Gordon is here to ditch the shame and dive headfirst into life’s messier bits. Search for The Life of Bryony wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes released every Monday and Friday.
The special episode is in support of ‘Taking Action on Addiction’ as part of the campaign’s annual moment Addiction Awareness Week 2024.
