TV presenter Emma Willis has revealed she’ll be left with a ‘forever’ side effect after undergoing keyhole surgery in March.
The Love is Blind host, 49, underwent the procedure shortly after discovering she had a hole in her heart earlier this year.
Appearing on Heart Breakfast on Thursday, she discussed the surgery with hosts Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden and revealed that the situation had been “pretty scary”.
“I found out in January and by March I was in on the table and having a little device fitted into my heart to fill a hole that I never knew existed.
“I’ve had it my whole life and just had no idea.” The former Big Brother presenter told the hosts that she had always experienced heart palpitations, but that she’d ignored the signs and wrote it off as stress.
“For the past couple of years, I’ve been having them more and more, and they got to a point where it was quite a lot,” she said. The surgery, which plugged the hole in her heart, has since reduced the frequency of her palpitations.
However, she added, “I might have them forever. My heart has got to kind of learn how to refunction hole-free.”
Emma first revealed that she had undergone keyhole surgery back in April when she posted a picture of herself in a hospital gown on her Instagram.
“A big humongous THANK YOU to the team at the Royal Brompton Hospital for their care and support,” she wrote in the caption, alongside a series of images from her time in hospital.
“A few weeks ago, I had keyhole heart surgery, which feels very strange to write, and even stranger when I say it out loud.
“From investigations last year, to diagnosis and then surgery, they were absolutely incredible.”
She also praised her husband of 16 years, Busted bassist Matt Willis, for never leaving her side during the health scare.
The two married in 2008 and share three children together: Isabelle, 15, Ace, 13, and Trixie, eight. ”
We’ve been married for 16 years now and there have been lots of ups and downs, but it’s always worth the work,” Matt said of his marriage to Emma in an interview with Best magazine.
“It’s about being open with each other and honesty, because if you’re holding on to something, it will eventually come out as something else.”
