Matt Willis

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2009) (Find sources: Matt Willis – news, books, scholar)

Matt Willis
Background information
Birth name	Mathew James Willis
Born	8 May 1983 (1983-05-08) (age 26)
Origin	Molesey, England
Genres	Pop Rock, Pop Punk
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter, Presenter
Instruments	Guitar, Bass and Drums
Years active	2001–Present
Labels	Mercury Records (2005 - 2007)
Associated acts	Busted McFly James Bourne
Website	Official Site

Mathew James Willis (born 8 May 1983 in Tooting, South London) is an English singer-songwriter. He first found fame with the band, Busted.

Early years

Willis was born 'Mathew James Willis' in Tooting in London, later moving to East Molesey, Surrey, where he grew up, and later moved to Woking.

Willis has an older brother, Darren; their parents split up when Matt was three years old. His mother later remarried and had his half-sister, Amanda, who is an Ambassador for a charity called Whizz-Kidz. Willis has had three different last names legally whilst growing up. Willis after his birth father, this was changed to Woods after his parents split and later changed to Sargent after his mother married her now current husband.

Willis has made it clear that he was a "problem" child, regularly sneaking out of the house by shimmying down drain pipes. He also as a child suffered from Brittle Bone disease, tunnel vision, asthma and hyperactivity problems.

Willis attended Woking High School after being asked to leave his previous secondary school, before leaving to attend the independent fee-paying Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London, where he met his now close friends Lee Ryan, Tom Fletcher, Billie Piper, Jodi Albert, and Amy Winehouse who has openly said that she fancied Matt at school: "Yeah we all loved Matt at school. I fancied him, Everyone Did".

Busted

Busted were a somewhat successful British band consisting of Willis (Jay) on bass guitar previously on Drums, James Bourne on rhythm guitar and Charlie Simpson on lead guitar (and occasionally drums). Busted formed in 2001 and disbanded on 14 January 2005. In some countries (including The Netherlands) the band was known as Bust.

Busted is sometimes also recognised as the originating force behind the breakout act McFly. Willis co-wrote many Busted songs along with the other members, as well as Tom Fletcher of McFly.

Busted Court Case

Willis, James Bourne and ex-manager Richard Rashman faced a £10 million royalty battle with former members Ki McPhail and Owen Doyle, who claimed to have written three of the band's key singles. What I Go To School For, Sleeping With The Light On and Year 3000 all gained top three status in the UK charts. Album track Psycho Girl was another track included in the case. It began in February 2008 and included the likes of Charlie Simpson and Simon Cowell^{[citation needed]} as a potential witness and was dismissed in June 2008.^[1]

On Friday June 6, 2008 it was announced that Ki McPhail and Owen Doyle had lost the court battle, with the judge calling them both 'unreliable witnesses'. Bourne and Willis released the following statement: "This was an opportunistic attempt by Doyle and McPhail to cash in on our success. Their claims were a complete fabrication and we are delighted that the judge has seen through this and totally dismissed them. Our position has been completely vindicated and our achievements with Busted remain untarnished." ^[2]

Solo career

After a brief stint in rehab after the Busted split, Matt launched a solo career on Mercury Records, releasing singles in 2005 and 2006: "Up All Night", "Hey Kid", "Don't Let It Go to Waste", and a cover version of The Primitives song, "Crash" for the film Mr Bean's Holiday.

After appearing on ITV's Im A Celebrity Willis decided it was time for a change, Just as he was about to depart on his first Solo UK Tour he sacked his management of six years Prestige Management. This Later came with the Decision to leave his Record Label Mercury Records "Its not a simple case of dropping an artist but just that we both felt we had reached a point where we could no longer move forwards".

New Band

In March 2008, Matt Willis appeared on ITV1's daytime talk show Loose Women where, under the scrutiny of the presenters, he hinted that he was forming a new band. Although Willis does play bass, he announced he was still looking for a bassist, enabling him to concentrate solely on singing. In late 2008, Willis confirmed he was working on songs for a second album, to be released in late 2009.

In May 2009 it was confirmed that his band and album are ready for a release once a record deal is secured. In September 2009 Willis started rehearsals with his new band, all members are yet unknown.

Presenting

Since winning I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!, Willis has pursued various presenting projects. On 14 February 2007, Willis took his first major presenting role, when he was one of the presenters of ITV2's coverage of the BRIT Awards, alongside Lauren Laverne, Russell Howard and Alesha Dixon. He returned to this role in 2008 alongside Emma Griffiths and Lauren Laverne. He interviewed Rihanna, Shayne Ward, Adele, Ozzy Osbourne, Kate Nash and many more including Perez Hilton who became very fond of Matt.

Following his success in this he hosted the MTV Hits night of MTV's Spanking new Music Tour 2007 with his wife Emma Griffiths, live from the Anson Rooms in Bristol on March 21, 2007.

In February 2008, Willis presented the Red Carpet coverage for the E! Entertainment network, at the 2008 BAFTA Awards, alongside Ryan Seacrest and Emma Griffiths.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!

In December 2006 on ITV, Willis was crowned 'King of the Jungle' being the winning contestant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! despite going into the final day as the 8-1 underdog against Myleene Klass and Jason Donovan. Weighing 13 stone 2 lb upon entering, he discovered that he had lost 2 stone after being weighed again in the jungle. In order to enter the jungle, Willis was required to bungee jump from a plane. During his stay, in a compulsory bushtucker trial, Willis ate a kangaroo anus, crocodile penis, crocodile eye, witchetty grub, and some mealworms to earn a cooked, luxury meal for himself and the other celebrities.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now

In November 2007, Willis and his wife Emma Griffiths took to Australia and presented I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now on ITV2 after Willis winning the 2006 Series. Following In 2008, The couple were asked back after winning a presenting award earlier that year. Each series lasted over six weeks in Australia during November and December. In early 2009 Wills and his Wife did not renue their Contract with ITV2 due to the birth of their first child in June 2009 and they will no longer present the Award winning Series.

Personal life

Willis married his long term girlfriend of three years, Emma Griffiths, at Rushton Hall, Northants on July 5, 2008. Guests included ex Members of Son Of Dork, James Bourne, David Gest, Holly Willoughby, Ant McPartlin, McFly, Kara Tointon and Heidi Range. OK! Magazine covered the wedding for July in their 632 issue. In December 2007 they took part in their first "press" shoot for OK! Magazine, even though Matt said he didn't want to be a part of the whole cycle. In November 2007 Willis claimed to have stopped smoking, which he had done from the age of 11, but has since been photographed smoking.

It was announced on the 30th December 2008 that his wife Emma Griffiths is pregnant with their first child, which is due in June 2009. Emma gave birth to their daughter, Isabelle Catherine Willis on 20 June 2009^[3].

Rehab

In April 2005, aged 21, Willis had a brief stint for 3 weeks in London's Priory Rehab Hospital for alcoholism. In July 2006, aged 23, Willis was admitted again for a few days to the Priory Rehab Hospital for drug abuse, because he was hooked on cannabis from the age of 13. Matt began to have problems from the drug-taking including physiological and memory problems. In June 2008, aged 25 Willis entered the providence project rehab centre in Bournemouth after a marriage ultimatum, as Willis continued to take drugs and drink heavily. It was reported that a night out with close pal Amy Winehouse pushed Willis too far. Willis took the full 5 week course in Drugs and Alcohol.

Other work

• As a teenager, Willis was featured on The Bill & Casualty, both times as a drug dealer, and EastEnders as an extra.

• Following I'm a Celebrity..., Willis was featured in a succession of celebrity based TV shows. In December 2006, he took part in an episode of Ready, Steady, Cook where he beat fellow I'm a Celebrity... contestant Toby Anstis. A month later, Willis finished fifth in a Music Stars Special of The Weakest Link. Bonnie Langford won the episode, having been Strongest Link in every round bar Round 2, in which Willis was the Strongest Link. At the end of the year he appeared with Myleene Klass as a guest contributor to The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

• On 13 March 2007, Willis was a special guest on the Glasgow leg of the Radio 1/Chris Moyles Rallyoke in aid of Comic Relief. He performed Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Other celebrities to take part in the night included Fran Healy and Dougie Payne of the band Travis, Reggie Yates and Fred MacAulay.

• As a fan of Big Brother, Willis has also featured on various spin offprogrammes for the 7th and 8th series of the show, including BBLB and BBBM.

• Willis has appeared twice on The Friday Night Project: once in 2006 in an episode hosted by Ross Kemp, and again in August 2007 on an episode hosted by fellow I'm a Celebrity... contestant David Gest.

• In the summer of 2007, he was a guest at the weddings of both Shane Ritchie and Holly Willoughby.

• On September 8, 2007 Willis contributed to Ant and Dec's game "Bounce Baby Bounce" on the new series of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

• Willis was also a Star Guest with Emma Griffiths for the first show of Jordan & Peter Unleashed.

• In March 2008, Matt featured in an I'm A Celebrity special of the TV series Ghosthunting with..., alongside fellow contestant Dean Gaffney, and recent contestants Christopher Biggins and Cerys Matthews as well as wife Emma Willis.

• In May 2008, Matt travelled to New Zealand with Jack Osbourne, Jodie Kidd and John Thomson for the new series of Jack's ITV2 show, Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie. It was also reported that Willis got a new tattoo, the word 'Emma', after filming had finished, and was later beaten up by a local criminal after having left the set. The show was aired in October 2008.

• In October 2008, Matt Willis appeared on All Star Family Fortunes with wife Emma Griffiths and her family. They lost to Gary Lucy.

• In May 2009, Matt Willis appeared on All Star Mr & Mrs with wife Emma Griffiths. They were successful in their endeavours on the show, and won £20,000 for their designated charity, Save The Children, as well as taking home a miniature carriage clock each.

DJ

Willis is now re-inventing him self as a DJ he had DJ-ed for many successful club nights In South-End, Glasgow, Leeds, Warrington just to name a few. He toured from January 2008 until October of the same year. Throughout 2009 Willis has made a few DJ appearances at Universities Summer Balls.

Solo discography

References

1. ^ BBC - Newsbeat - Music - Busted pair lose royalties case
2. ^ Busted! Judge raps duo over song claims | Music | The Guardian
3. ^ Matt Willis announces the birth of his daughter

External links

Official sites

• Official site
• Official Twitter
• Matt Willis' Official MySpace
• Matt Willis On IMDB
• Agent's Site
• Publicist's site