Emma Willis is facing her biggest presenting challenge yet as she takes over Strictly Come Dancing, with the BBC positioning the experienced broadcaster as a dependable family-friendly successor to Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
Her appointment follows three years of controversy surrounding the Saturday night dance show, during which BBC chiefs were said to have become tired of negative headlines and complaints. Willis, 50, has been presented as a reassuring and familiar figure alongside new co-hosts Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe.
Yet the public image of the Birmingham-born presenter marks a significant change from her early years in television, when she was known by her maiden name, Emma Griffiths, and was a regular on London’s late-night celebrity scene.
Willis began modelling at 15 before moving into broadcasting. As a young presenter on MTV, whose headquarters were in Camden, she was associated with the area’s party circuit and dated DJ and fellow presenter Alex Zane.
An associate who knew her at the time said: “She loved the attention. She loved being this kooky, super cool girl who would party, party, party.”
The same source claimed that Willis was often seen at the Hawley Arms pub and was a regular in gossip columns. The associate added: “There was always an element to her that she came across as a bit of an attention seeker. She loved being written about, too.”
Willis was also seen at a 2005 MTV Awards gathering in Lisbon, where she was reportedly flirtatious with Robbie Williams. At the time, a source said: “Robbie thought she was incredible. Emma seemed to love it, too.”
Those episodes belong to a very different stage of her career. Her move towards a more conventional family image was helped by a 2018 Channel 4 documentary, Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, which showed her drawing on her experiences as a mother of three.
The programme won her a new audience and was described by one source familiar with her career as a turning point. “It was such a clever move,” the source said. “At that point she won the hearts of ordinary women across Britain who saw her as a down-to-earth mum.”
Emma Willis takes centre stage on Strictly Come Dancing
Willis had already built a substantial television career before the documentary. After leaving MTV, she presented an I’m A Celebrity spin-off for ITV and later became a guest presenter on Big Brother’s Big Mouth.
She was dubbed the “new Davina McCall” when she took over the main Big Brother programme on Channel 5 in 2013, alongside Rylan Clark. The following year, she replaced Holly Willoughby as presenter of The Voice on the BBC, a role she held for a decade.
She also co-hosted the Brit Awards with Dermot O’Leary in 2017. Away from television, her marriage to Matt Willis has formed a central part of her public profile.
The couple married in 2008 and have three children. Matt Willis, formerly of Busted, has spoken openly about addiction, including a cocaine habit which he said led him to take six grams a day. Their experiences were explored in the 2023 BBC documentary Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction.
A year later, the couple presented Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones for Channel 4. They went on to host Netflix dating series Love Is Blind UK, while Willis also secured ambassadorial work with Vodafone, Oral-B and Vinted.
She now faces scrutiny in her new Strictly role after the trio’s first launch show drew criticism from some commentators who questioned the need for three presenters. Ratings were reported to be slightly higher than the equivalent programme the previous year.
A friend said Willis was relishing the opportunity, describing her as “a very optimistic and positive person”. The BBC will hope that approach helps the long-running dance show retain its audience as she takes on the live programme.
