[JohnnyBB]

EMMA WILLIS INTERVIEW

By Benjie Goodhart

This summer, for the final series of Big Brother’s Little Brother, George Lamb will be sharing presenting duties with Emma Willis. But the model-turned-TV-presenter won’t need lengthy briefings on the show’s subject matter – she’s something of a Big Brother obsessive. Here, she reveals why this is her dream job, what her favourite ever Big Brother moments are, and how her wedding almost had a Big Brother theme…

You’re presenting the new series of Big Brother’s Little Brother with George Lamb. You’re more than qualified to talk about Big Brother, aren’t you?

Yeah, I’m a bit of an obsessive Big Brother freak. From when it started, really. The first one, when Craig won, I got hooked then, and I’ve watched every single one since then – even year four, which not many people talk about.

Davina says she’s seen every single episode that’s ever been broadcast. How do you fare on that scale?

I’d say pretty much the same. I’m one of those people who tapes it when I go on holiday, and I catch up when I get back. I was pregnant when it was on last summer, and then after I gave birth it was pretty difficult to watch it, but I caught up. Even if I miss two weeks and then I watch it, I still watch the two weeks I’ve missed even if I’ve seen the latest episode. So I watch it back-to-front, but I have to see every episode.

So in all that time spent watching Big Brother, who have been your favourite housemates?

I really loved Alex Sibley, I thought he was a brilliant housemate. Kate Lawler was amazing, Brian Dowling was possibly the best housemate they ever had. Jade Goody had the most classic one-liners in the whole 11 years. I really loved the Stuart and Michelle romance, I thought Victor was brilliant, he really mixed things up. Nikki Grahame was brilliant. Last year I liked quite a few – Charlie I really liked, he was just a really nice guy. Nasty Nick – you can’t help but love the original baddie. And then Craig, for being the first winner, and winning it basically because he was a really nice guy.

Have there been any you didn’t like, for one reason or another?

I didn’t like Charley – she was just far too mouthy for my liking. Who else? I didn’t dislike Rachel at all, I just didn’t think she was a worthy winner. I don’t think she did enough to win. But there aren’t many who I’ve not liked.

What have been your favourite moments?

Alex Sibley behind the door, when he popped his collar up and started singing. Kate Lawler, when she was really drunk and tried to put loads of clothes on and fell over. And one of my favourite tasks was when Emma and Michelle went into that bedsit and watched everything. That was incredible. And I loved the boxes task, when they all had to stay in their boxes for as long as possible. The tree from Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year I thought was genius. There are so many to pick from.

Going back to your level of obsession with Big Brother – is it true you wanted to have a diary room at your wedding?

Yes! You know you have a book at your wedding where people write notes? I just thought it would be nice to have people record messages. But I didn’t do it because the marquee cost enough, and to add an extra room onto it was just extortionate. So it was purely a cost reason. But the guy who videoed our wedding, I did tell him I needed a Big Brother moment where he’d get people to record their messages. But I didn’t go the whole way and have a diary room. It would have been brilliant.

You and Matt have a baby daughter, Isabelle. How are you going to cope with the challenge of combining motherhood with all of your presenting duties?

We are really lucky as our families and friends can help out. I think I’ve just got to get her involved! I might even take her with me sometimes. She came up last summer with me, when I was a guest on Little Brother, and George was just brilliant with her. And she came up in January when I did Celebrity BBLB. So maybe she’ll become part of the Big Brother family too!

You’ve mentioned that you’ve been a guest on BBLB before. Will that make it easier, or just make it a bit weird?

I think I’ve been a guest on every series of Little Brother. It’s not weird. It’s my dream job. I couldn’t ask for any more. Being such a fan of the show, and now being a part of it was well – I’m just so overwhelmed and overjoyed. I hope it’s not too weird, I hope I can enjoy it as much presenting as I do being a guest on it, because it’s such a fun show. I’m so excited. And it’s going to be really nice working with George, I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve met him numerous times coming on the show, and we always get on really well. I screen-tested with him years ago for a different job, and we got on brilliantly. Can’t wait actually – he’s one person I’ve always wanted to do a show with.

You’ve presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth before. That show always looks like complete anarchy.

It is, but it’s so much fun, because you never know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what anyone’s going to say. And the people in there are die hard Big Brother fans, the people you really want to be debating the issue of the day with. I did a week a few years ago and loved it, and in January when Davina went into the house I stepped in for her. That was a real honour, to have her job for the evening. As a Big Brother fan it’s brilliant to do, because you’re surrounded by other Big Brother fans, and you can just have a crazy Big Brother evening together.

Loads of the TV stuff you’ve done over the years has been live. Do you enjoy the buzz of live TV?

I do. Working on TV full stop is fantastic, and I enjoy it immensely, but live TV is just great, because you never know what’s going to happen, it’s spontaneous, anything could go wrong at any point. You just don’t know what’s going to happen, and that uncertainty gives you a real buzz. You’re nervous, but that nervousness keeps you on your toes.

Have you had any horrifically embarrassing moments on live TV?

The worst one was when I was doing TRL [Total Request Live, on MTV] in Leicester Square with Dave Berry and Alex Zane. We were about to do a competition link where people won tickets to a movie premiere. We went to an ad break, and I had the opening line, and I was standing next to Dave, and I was checking that I had my cue cards and my tickets, and then in my ear they counted down “Five, four, three, two, one, cue Emma…” And I put my hand up to my mouth and started to speak, except that I’d forgotten the microphone, and there was nothing there. Dave just looked at me and pissed himself laughing. I was talking to my fist. As a presenter, you don’t have many things you have to remember. A microphone is quite important, though! I quite like things like that, though – it keeps it real.

Who’s the biggest star that you’ve interviewed in your TV work?

It’s got to be someone like Will Smith or Harrison Ford.

Have you interviewed anyone who’s been really awful?

Yes, I have, a couple of people. But I’m not going to mention any names, because maybe they were just having a bad day, and I caught them at a bad time. Everyone’s entitled to have a bad day once in a while. If someone’s being quite rude and doesn’t want to be there, I just ask my questions, spend the time there that I have to, be as polite as I possibly can, and leave as fast as I can.

What ambitions do you have left in TV?

My biggest ambition is just to do this [TV presenting] for as long as possible. This is what I want to do for my career now. Just to be able to stay in it. Any job is hard, especially at the moment, and to hold a job down in the current climate is my ambition at the moment.

Davina reckons she’s seen so much of Big Brother that she knows how to win it. If you were to go in as a housemate, how would you play it?

I dunno. It’s a tricky one, you can have a think about what games to play and how to come across, you can go in and try and get involved and be part of the storyline and really plan things out, or you can just go in and be yourself, and hope that’s enough. I think I’d probably just end up going in there and trying to be myself. A lot of it probably depends on who you’re in there with anyway. I always swore that I’d never go in the house, I love watching it but you’d have to be crazy to go in there. But then in January I got to actually go in the house filming for some online content, and I just found myself thinking “Oh my God, I want to be in here!”

Big Brother has been such a big part of your life. What will you do with your summer nights when it’s all over?

I dunno, man! Endemol and Channel 4 better come up with a new show, because I need something to watch. Either that or I’ll have to go on a really long holiday just to cope with the loss.