Emma Willis hasn’t baked since winning Celebrity Bake Off, according to her husband Matt.
And the Busted star knew she would win as soon as she decided to go on the show, which was filmed at the end of last year.
Sure enough the TV presenter not only won, she also got a coveted Paul Hollywood handshake for her elephant-shaped Viennese biscuits on last week’s show which raised money for Stand Up to Cancer.
Matt, 38, who has three children with Emma, laughed: “She hasn’t b*****y baked since.
“She’s not an avid baker. Emma is one of those annoying people that is naturally good at everything. If she wants to do something she’ll b*****y well do it.
“She’s pedantic and anal and so into detail that everything has to be right, so as soon as she said she was going to do it I was like, ‘Well you’re going to f***ing win.’ I just knew it.”
Fans saw Emma questioning the praise she got from Paul and Prue Leith, even after the handshake.
Matt, who has been married to Emma since 2008 and has daughters Isabelle, 12, and Trixie, five, and son Ace, 10, with her, wasn’t surprised.
He said: “She’s always full of doubt. Before she did it she was like, ‘I’ll be awful, I’ll be terrible but it’s for charity so I’ll do it’ and she was, of course, brilliant.”
Bake Off means the duo are both reality winners. Matt won the sixth series of I’m a Celebrity in 2006. But the Big Brother and The Voice UK presenter hasn’t put up her Star Baker apron with Matt’s jungle crown.
He said: “I never got to keep the crown. I was gutted about that. I’ve only got the T-shirt.”
He and Emma, who is back on our screens next week for Channel 4’s The Great Home Transformation, are clearly close and despite their fame and Matt’s previous party lifestyle, love home life and being parents.
Lockdown was a perfect opportunity for the five of them to have time together without either parent away working. Matt said: “At times, because of our jobs, me and Emma can be ships in the night.
“It was an amazing experience for us all to be together for that period of time. We also knew it was serious so it was something I had to remind my kids about if they moaned.
“I’d be like, ‘Your grandkids will be asking you about this. Remember this.’”
Matt went to theatre school before forming Busted in 2000 with James Bourne, recruiting Charlie Simpson before releasing 2002 debut single What I Go to School For.
Recently, despite his success in musicals and on TV in shows like EastEnders and Birds of a Feather, he went back to drama school for two years to sharpen up.
Next month he’s back in Glasgow for the touring production of Waitress in which he plays Dr Pomatter.
He admitted he auditioned on the spur of the moment after acting with Waitress’s leading lady Lucie Jones on A Christmas Carol.
He said: “Touring isn’t ideal. I feel like the older I get, the less touring works with my life.
“But I love this show. I saw it about three years ago in the West End and there was talk of me taking over the role but I was at drama school at the time and didn’t want to drop out.
“I was in A Christmas Carol with Lucie and she told me about the tour and how I should audition. Three days later I did, got the part and signed up. I didn’t really think about the touring aspect, to be honest.”
The show – about a waitress and baker who enters a pie baking contest as a way to get out of an abusive relationship – comes to Glasgow’s King’s and then Edinburgh Playhouse.
Matt, who has battled alcohol and drug addiction, can’t wait – especially as he’ll remember a bit more of his time in Scotland than he used to in Busted.
He said: “We have opened multiple tours in Glasgow and it was always a great first night. I’ve got such amazing memories of Glasgow. Well, the memories I do have.
“Busted is like a travelling stag do. You know when you go on a stag do and the groom has brought the father-in-law along? I feel like I’m that father-in-law. I’m not really the same guy I was in those days. But it really suits me.”
Instead of staying up all night caning it, Matt is enjoying travelling round the UK and going wild swimming. He did it for the first time when Waitress was in Plymouth and described it as “savage” but exhilarating.
He’s now planning a dip in Loch Lomond when he’s staying in Glasgow and is even looking at a flat near it.
Busted fans may see him playing bass sooner rather than later. The trio are talking about a new album and hope to add to the four No1 singles they had between 2002 and 2005, when Charlie quit.
Matt tried a solo career and then, with James, teamed up with McFly as McBusted before Charlie came back and the trio released two albums including No2 hit Half Way There in 2019.
Matt said: “Me and the boys are talking right now. We have a 20-year anniversary coming up. It’d be a shame not to do something.”
Matt is 38 but is still happy to play What I Go To School For – a song inspired by a teacher he had a crush on.
He said: “The lyrics say, ‘She may be 33 but that doesn’t bother me.’ I’m 39 in a couple of weeks so the song doesn’t really resonate any more. But it captured a time and place.”
Acting is his first love. He said: “I love it more than music. I love playing with the band but getting a script in my hand is a real joy. I feel like I’m just beginning. That really excites me.”
● Waitress is at The King’s, Glasgow, from April 12-16 and Edinburgh Playhouse from April 19-23. For tickets and info: www.waitressthe-
musical.co.uk
