Busted singer and bassist Matt Willis has said his TV star wife Emma Willis was “devastated” by his “embarrassing” wedding proposal.
Speaking on the Newlyweds podcast, Matt, 41, said he had taken Emma to Venice in Italy, for her birthday, to propose.
He had planned to ask her out in a restaurant, but after hearing English Busted fans on another table, he ended up asking her to marry him on the Rialto Bridge, which he had “never heard of”.
Former Big Brother presenter Emma, 48, said there were “loads of people around” when her husband proposed, which she said she found “mortifying”.
The Busted star said of his proposal: “When I proposed, she was devastated, deadly embarrassed, so embarrassed.
“I took her away to Venice for a birthday, I had organised this restaurant, which is really nice, and I was going to propose at the table in front of everyone.
“It’s in Venice, no-one will be English. (We) sit down and there’s a table full of English people there.
“I hear someone singing a Busted song at one point, and I’m like this is going to go terribly wrong.
“I was like ‘right this isn’t going to work, so what do I do now?’
“So then we had to walk around Venice trying to find somewhere to propose, and that’s not my vibe. I don’t know where I’m going.”
Emma, who presents Love Is Blind UK alongside her husband, added: “We had dinner and he was really weird, he suddenly turned before we even went to dinner, he didn’t really talk to me, he was a bit twitchy.
“And I was like, this is really f***** up, if he’s bought me here to finish with me, do you know what I mean? And I thought it’s either that, which he’s not that kind of person, so please god no, or he’s going to f***** propose.
“So I was trying to be an investigator, and I was trying to hold his hand, and rubbing his legs, (to see) if I could feel anything in his pocket, but he used to have a asthma inhaler.
“And I was like, I think that’s his asthma, and then he was like, let’s go for a walk down here.
“I’m walking around getting lost in Venice, I’m like what are we doing? And then we literally stumble across the Rialto Bridge, Matt’s never heard of it, didn’t know anything.
“So we walked to the top of it, and he just got all serious, and I’m like what are you doing?
“(He) whipped out this box and he started to drop, and I just grabbed him around the neck.
“I went, don’t you f****** dare. I think I said, go down there, because there’s loads of people around and they’re all going to look at us and oh my god how embarrassing.
“But not like don’t propose, just how mortifyingly embarrassing, and then he opened the box, and the ring had flopped out of the little holder.
“I think if you’re not stereotypically romantic staring into each other’s I mean, he stares at me all the time, and I’m like what the f*** are you looking at? That was our proposal.”
In the podcast, Emma also says she was not a fan of her husband’s band when the pair met, but said his songs had now become “an integral part of the beginning of our relationship”.
She said she is now “the biggest Busted fan” due to the “great memories” their songs have brought her.
The latest edition of the podcast hosted by realty star Jamie Laing and his wife Sophie Habboo, featuring the full interview with Emma and Matt Willis is out on August 19.
