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BUSTED’S Matt Willis has revealed the heartbreaking reason he regrets signing up to I’m A Celebrity.
The former band member, 42, admitted that the level of fame that came with being crowned King of the Jungle “spun me out”, worsening his drink and drug addiction.
Matt, who is happily married to TV host Emma Willis, candidly opened up about his experience on his On The Mend podcast, admitting his heightened profile left him struggling behind the scenes.
“I was thinking of a time when I lost my own narrative,” he said. “And the one thing that springs to mind the most was leaving I’m A Celebrity.“
The former Busted star had been attempting to launch his solo career at the time, when his label refused to release his album after a string of underwhelming singles.
“I was in a pretty bad place,” he continued.
“The record company basically weren’t going to release my solo album…
“They said, ‘You’ve got to do something to raise your profile. Will you go on I’m A Celebrity?’
” I went, ‘Yep, absolutely. Anything, please release my album’.”
He appeared on ITV series I’m A Celebrity back in 2006. and went on to be crowned King of the Jungle.
But his appearance on the huge show overshadowed his music, as his media profile skyrocketed following his appearance in the jungle.
“Once I came out of that show, I realised no one cared that I had a record out”, Matt admitted.
“Everywhere I went, they just wanted to talk about I’m A Celebrity. And it really bummed me out.”
The dad-of-three added: “Before I went on that show, I was only really famous to Busted fans. Then I came out and everyone knew who I was.”
Matt said he felt overwhelmed during that period of his life, with his addiction to cocaine dangerously spiralling.
He continued: “When you’re in active addiction – which I was at the time – and you just want to hide, that’s the worst thing that can happen.
“Suddenly there were paps everywhere I went. I’d get in a cab and the driver would say, ‘Hello Matt’. It was such a weird experience.”
Matt explained he realised it was probably a “bit of a mistake going on that show”.
“I felt like I won the show but lost myself”, he said, “I’d become known for being a celebrity rather than for my music.”
He admitted increased public scrutiny made it difficult for him to hide his spiralling drug issues.
“I was a sneaky little drug addict who didn’t want everyone poking their nose into his life,” he confessed.
“It was a really strange place to be. I had no privacy. People were looking into areas of my life I didn’t want them to.”
Matt was taking six grams of cocaine a day at the height of his addiction, which he opened up about in BBC One doc Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction.
In it, he revealed how friends advised the host of The Voice to get out while she still could.
He said: “I thought she would leave me many, many times, and I was involved in some of those times when people were saying that.”
The couple, who have been together for 21 years, managed to work through the tough moment of their relationship, and remain an item today, sharing three kids Isabelle, Ace and Trixie together.
Matt said in the doc: “I’m so grateful she didn’t and that she could see something in our relationship that was worth holding on to. And it was — we have three kids and we’re very happy.”
The pair have even secured themselves joint TV work commitments, hosting the UK version of Netflix hit Love Is Blind together.
