Matt Willis says he now has ‘very valid reason’ to turn Strictly down

Matt Willis has said he now has a “very valid reason” to turn down competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

The Busted musician, 43, said he has been approached to appear on the BBC series several times over the years.

“Now I have a very valid reason to turn it down. I can’t think of anything worse,” he told The Telegraph.

Matt Willis has said he has a ‘very valid reason’ to turn Strictly Come Dancing down now (Ian West/PA)

PA Wire

“It’d be like the first night in the theatre, but every week.”

He said that while his wife was “really happy and excited” to take on the role, the job was a “curveball”.

“She’s really happy, really excited.

“It felt different, this job, because she really wanted it, and I think she was scared to say that out loud,” he said.

“Taking the biggest job on TV was not on our bingo card for 2026, but I’m so proud of her. And if anyone can do it, it’s her.

“I’m stoked for her, she’s perfect for it, and loves the show so much,” he said.

Since its launch in 2024, the couple have also hosted the Netflix dating series Love Is Blind UK together.

His wife Emma Willis took over hosting this season alongside Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe (Guy Levy/BBC)

PA Media

But when asked if they auditioned for Strictly, he said: “No, no. We do Love Is Blind, that’s about as far as my TV presenting goes. It’s not my bag.”

In the interview Willis also said he “doesn’t know where I would have ended up” if he had not met his wife – who he has been married to since 2008 and now has three children with.

Over the years Willis has spoken publicly about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.

“If I didn’t have her, I don’t know who I would have had to drag me out of it,” he said.

“When you hit rock bottom, eventually you want to turn your life around. But having someone that loved me was massive.

“Knowing I had her was enough for me to go, ‘OK, maybe I’m worth doing this for’.”

Willis said he ‘couldn’t think of anything worse’ than competing on the BBC series (Ian West/PA)

PA Archive

After hitting “rock bottom” he credited his wife with “dragging me out of it”.

Although he said they were “dramatically different people to when we first met” he said they had “luckily fallen in love with these new versions of ourselves”.

Aside from being a member of Busted, Willis also won the sixth season of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2006, and has appeared on stage in productions including Wicked, Little Shop Of Horrors and Cabaret.