Bruce Willis' wife makes heartbreaking health confession as she admits 'we struggled'
Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2022, which forced him to quit acting after he began struggling with communication
Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis had a heartbreaking confession as she admits the couple “struggled” before his dementia diagnosis. Emma, 47, admits she noticed Bruce had become distant, withdrawn, and unrecognisable before seeking medical help.
In her new memoir The Unexpected Journey, Emma, 47, says she feared her marriage was falling apart. She even started to become concerned that Bruce, 70, “wasn’t the man she married”.
The former model said: “It just wasn't Bruce. It wasn't the man I married. It was like waking up next to someone else.
“Before I knew Bruce's brain was slowly changing, we struggled with miscommunications and an inability to connect. All of this made me contemplate divorce.”
Die Hard star Bruce was later diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2022. It came a year after the Hollywood icon announced he was retiring from acting after he began suffering from aphasia, a condition that impacts communication, reports the Daily Mail.
According to the NHS FTD is an uncommon type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language. It affects the front and sides of the brain.
People with FTD often find it difficult to make the right sounds when saying words or end up speaking slowly. The NHS says the condition can also cause behavioural changes, such as acting inappropriately or impulsively or even appearing selfish or unsympathetic.
Emma, who has been married to Bruce for 16 years, says the diagnosis was “one of the most traumatic experiences”. She says the couple soon realised there is “no treatment” and “no cure” for the condition.
However the diagnosis also made Emma realise that “the kind, caring and compassionate man I fell in love with was there the whole time”. It gave her a medical explanation for the changes she noticed in Bruce.
Emma was then able to “forgive and forget”. She admits she has now “fallen back in love” with Bruce in an “unconditional way”.
The Hollywood actor shares two daughters - Mabel 13, and Evelyn, 11 - with Emma, while he has three children from his marriage to Demi Moore. He now lives separately from his family so he can have regular support.
Emma explains he can get the “best care” despite receiving a backlash from their living conditions. Speaking on Good Morning America, she said: “It was a hard decision for us but that was the safest and best decision, not just for Bruce but also for our two young girls.
“It’s really not up for debate. I’m not going to take a vote on that. Now I know that Bruce has the best care, 100 percent of the time. His needs are met 100 percent of the time.”
Emma and Bruce married in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2009 before holding a ceremony in Beverley Hill to make the union official. The couple remain close friends with Demi, 62.