Bruce Willis’ Wife Emma Admits She Was Considering Divorce Before His Dementia Diagnosis

Posted on 12/09/2025 by Boris Clair

Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis has shared that before the actor was diagnosed with dementia, the changes in his personality had begun affecting their marriage.

During a new interview with Vanity Fair, Emma admitted that while their relationship had begun as a “romantic, beautiful story”, she had even considered divorce in the period before his diagnosis, as she said it “felt like my marriage was crumbling”.

She recalled asking herself: “What is going on? This is not the person that I married. Something is just so off.”

“I just couldn’t figure it out,” she added.

In 2022, Bruce’s family – including Emma and his first wife, Demi Moore – issued a joint statement announcing in 2022 that he was experiencing had aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to communicate.

The following year, the family disclosed that the Sixth Sense actor’s condition had progressed to frontotemporal dementia. The NHS says this rare form of dementia can cause personality and behaviour changes, problems with mental abilities and issues with memory, as well as affecting one’s ability to communicate verbally.

Since Bruce’s diagnosis, Emma and the rest of his family have regularly kept his fans updated with news of his condition, as well as posting pictures and videos on social media.

Last month, Emma revealed during an interview that Bruce had recently moved out of the family home, and into accommodation where he could be professionally cared for around the clock.

“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” the British former model told US broadcaster Diane Sawyer. “But I knew first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”

Emma and Bruce share two daughters, 13-year-old Mabel and 11-year-old Evelyn.

The screen legend also has three grown-up daughters with Demi Moore, 37-year-old Rumer, 34-year-old Scout and 31-year-old Tallulah.

Bruce Willis’ Wife Admits Moving The Actor Was One Of The ‘Hardest Decisions’ She’s Ever Made

Posted on 29/08/2025 by Boris Clair

Bruce Willis is living in a second, “safer” home away from his wife and kids to be with his caregivers 24/7, his wife told US broadcaster Diane Sawyer in a recent interview.

“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” Emma Heming Willis said during the interview. “But I knew first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.”

Bruce and Emma share daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, while he and his ex-wife, fellow actor Demi Moore, share daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31.

In 2022, Bruce’s family, including Demi, issued a joint statement announcing that he was living with aphasia, which affects one’s ability to communicate, and that he would retire from acting.

The next year, the family said Bruce had been diagnosed with dementia. In the ABC News special with Diane Sawyer, Emma gave an inside look at her husband’s experience with the disease, saying she moved him into a “safer” one-story home so he could be with his caregivers all the time.

She said she visits him at the second home every morning for breakfast and every night.

“It is a house that is filled with love and warmth and care and laughter,” Emma said.

Bruce has frontotemporal dementia, which causes a person to lose their words. The 70-year-old is still walking and seemingly unaware of his diagnosis, his wife said.

She claimed: “Bruce is in really great health overall. It’s just his brain that is failing him.

“The language is going, and we’ve learned to adapt. And we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different way.”

Bruce Willis and wife Emma Heming Willis in 2019

Emma said that she first started noticing a difference in Bruce when he became quieter and would “melt a little bit” when the family got together.

She said he stopped wanting to take their two daughters to school, and then his childhood stutter returned. Emma said she had found the experience “alarming and scary”.

When doctors diagnosed Bruce with frontotemporal dementia a few years ago and told Emma there was no cure, she was “panicked.”

“I just remember hearing it and just not hearing anything else,” she said.

She shared that she now struggles to remember what the actor was like before his diagnosis.

“It’s also even really hard for me today to go back in time to remember even the fun, because I’m so caught up in today, of what today looks like and walking this journey with him today, that I can’t remember,” she said. “I just have a really hard time remembering who he was.”

But she said she still sees moments of the old Bruce.

“It’s his laugh, right? Like, he has such a hearty laugh,” she said. “And, you know, sometimes you’ll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and, you know, I just get transported.”

Emma wrote the book The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope And Yourself On The Caregiving Path about caring for Bruce, which she said she hopes can give other caregivers a roadmap.

Bruce Willis ‘Not Totally Verbal’ Amid Dementia Battle, ‘Moonlighting’ Creator Says

Posted on 13/10/2023 by Boris Clair

“Moonlighting” creator Glenn Gordon Caron has shared an update on Bruce Willis’ health this week, telling the New York Post that the actor is “not totally verbal” amid his battle with frontotemporal dementia.

Caron, a friend of the 68-year-old actor, explained that Willis still knows who he is during his visits but noted some changes to him.

“My sense is the first one to three minutes he knows who I am,” he said.

“[Willis] used to be a voracious reader — he didn’t want anyone to know that — and he’s not reading now. All those language skills are no longer available to him, and yet he’s still Bruce.”

He continued: “When you’re with him, you know that he’s Bruce, and you’re grateful that he’s there, but the joie de vivre is gone.”

Caron said he’s talked with him and the actor’s wife, Emma Heming Willis, while maintaining a “casual relationship” with his three older children.

“I have tried very hard to stay in his life. He’s an extraordinary person,” added Caron.

“The thing that makes [his disease] so mind-blowing is [that] if you’ve ever spent time with Bruce Willis, there is no one who had any more joie de vivre than he. He loved life and … just adored waking up every morning and trying to live life to its fullest.”

Willis’ family announced that the actor was diagnosed with aphasia last year prior to sharing his dementia diagnosis in February.

In a recent appearance on the “Today” show, his wife noted the challenges that come with dementia.

“It’s hard on the person diagnosed. It’s also hard on the family. And that is no different for Bruce, or myself, or our girls. And when they say that this is a family disease, it really is,” said Emma Heming Willis, who shared that it’s “hard to know” if Willis is aware of his condition.

Exclusive: In honor of World Frontotemporal Dementia Awareness week, Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming Willis speaks to @hodakotb about the condition in her first interview since his diagnosis.

“It was the blessing and the curse,” Emma said of receiving Bruce’s diagnosis. pic.twitter.com/VY5yhVjZIf

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 25, 2023

Caron, whose popular ’80s series starring Willis hit Hulu this week, informed the actor about the show’s availability on streaming.

“I know he’s really happy that the show is going to be available for people, even though he can’t tell me that,” Caron told the Post.

“When I got to spend time with him, we talked about it, and I know he’s excited.”

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What Is Aphasia? Bruce Willis’ Condition Explained

Posted on 30/03/2022 by Boris Clair

Bruce Willis is “stepping away” from his acting career after being diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to express or understand speech, Willis’ family announced on Wednesday. The condition is “impacting his cognitive abilities,” the family said.

So what is aphasia? And what causes it? Here’s what you need to know.

Aphasia is a condition that affects communication.

Aphasia is a disorder that stems from damage to parts of the brain responsible for speaking, writing and understanding language, the Mayo Clinic explains.

It often occurs after a sudden emergency, like a stroke (when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted) or head injury. But aphasia can also come on more slowly over time. It can affect people of any age, but is most common in those middle-aged and older. Estimates say roughly 180,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with aphasia every year.

The specific communication challenges people face can vary.

With aphasia, some people may speak in short or incomplete sentences or longer sentences that don’t make any sense. Other times, they might use unrecognizable words or seem unable to follow a conversation. All of that may extend to writing, too.

In general, people with aphasia tend to fall into one of three different patterns, according to the Mayo Clinic:

Expressive aphasia (sometimes called Broca’s or nonfluent aphasia) in which people are better at understanding others than they are at speaking. They often struggle to get words out or speak in phrases, rather than complete sentences. For example, they might say things like: “Walk park today,” the Mayo Clinic explains.
Comprehensive aphasia (sometimes called fluent or Wernicke’s aphasia) in which people tend to speak in long, complex sentences that don’t make sense. They may have difficulty understanding spoken language, and do not always realize that others can’t understand them.
Global aphasia. People with this pattern tend to have poor comprehension and difficulty forming words and sentences, the Mayo clinic says.

Aphasia is usually the result of a serious brain issue, like a stroke, injury or tumor.

Aphasia is not something that just happens on its own; it is caused by damage to one (or more) of the areas of the brain responsible for language. Stroke is a common culprit. When the blood supply to part of the brain is stopped or greatly reduced, that prevents brain tissue from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function — which can have an immediate, and sometimes lasting, impact on communication.

Serious head injuries are another possible cause of aphasia, as are brain infections.

But the condition can also develop over time, particularly if a person has a brain tumor or a progressive neurological condition, like Alzheimer’s.

Willis’ family has not provided any details beyond his aphasia diagnosis.

If you have any concerns, talk to a doctor ASAP.

Because aphasia is linked to extremely serious underlying brain issues, it is important to see a doctor right away if you (or a loved one) notices any changes in speech or cognition.

If you suddenly develop any of the following symptoms, you should seek emergency medical care immediately, the Mayo Clinic says, as they may be a sign of a stroke:

Difficulty speaking
Trouble understanding speech
Difficulty with word recall
Problems with reading or writing

Depending on a person’s condition, doctors may run tests like a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan to better understand what is happening. They may also run tests to gauge a person’s ability to answer questions and hold a conversation.

There are ways to treat aphasia.

Treating aphasia depends a lot on the root cause. For example, after a brain injury like a stroke, some people are able to recover significant function — including language skills — depending on what parts of the brain were affected and how extensive the damage was. Many people go to rehabilitation programs, which often include a speech pathologist (in addition to a team of medical providers) who can help with recovery.

In general, doctors will attempt to deal with whatever the underlying causes of aphasia are, and then help people regain communication skills to the extent it is possible.

“Aphasia therapy aims to improve a person’s ability to communicate by helping him or her to use remaining language abilities, restore language abilities as much as possible, and learn other ways of communicating, such as gestures, pictures, or use of electronic devices,” explains the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. There are individual and group therapy options, as well as speech-generating technologies that can help people communicate throughout their days.

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