'It had the biggest impact on our relationship in the most positive way' - Emma Willis reveals how therapy strengthened her marriage, despite thinking she and husband Matt didn't need it

Emma and Matt Willis started dating in 2004 and got married four years later in 2008. Fast forward 17 years and the couple look as united as ever. But it hasn't always been plain sailing, Matt has been very open about his struggles with addiction in the past, most recently in the documentary Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction where the impact his illness had on his wife was very clear at times.

Now the couple has also shared how they took part in couples therapy during turbulent times in their relationship. And despite at first not really thinking they needed it, came to realise it was one of the best decisions they could have made.

"There was nothing glaringly obvious that I needed help with," Emma told Lorraine. "We think of it in that way, there has to be an obvious reason why I need it. But actually, there are many reasons why people need it and the overriding thing here is just talking to somebody will help you. And it's quite nice to have an unbiased opinion.

"Lots of people maybe don't need therapy or lots of people think they don't, and I was one of those people. I was like, I don't need it. And then literally the first one in, it was like, bang! And I felt it and I realised, actually, I did need to be here, we needed to be here. And it really kind of, it helped us talk to each other, even though you think, well, we're in a great relationship and we do communicate well. But actually, it's the way you talk to each other. Are you really listening? But I was all open to therapy, I just didn't think I needed it myself. It probably had the biggest impact on our relationship, actually, in the most positive way."

Emma & Matt Willis: ‘Couples Therapy Made Our Marriage Stronger’ | Lorraine - YouTube

Watch On

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life is a BBC & Open University co-production for BBC One, which sees Matt and Emma watch individual's journeys in therapy, including a woman who keeps having panic attacks and a man who feels inadequate after suffering a stroke.

"The therapy room they were in, even though there were cameras in there, they couldn't see any of them," Emma says. "It was a real therapy room but there was lots of hidden moments so those moments could be really genuine and true."

"I've been in therapy on and off since I was 21," Matt added. "And it's been one of the best things I've ever done. And even revisiting it over the last couple of years, it's just been so transformative for me."

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.