Emma Willis has revealed the ‘stresses’ and ‘frustrations’ she faced over ‘not being good enough’ at homeschooling her three children.
The TV host, 44, told MailOnline she and husband Matt, 37, put ‘a lot of pressure’ on themselves when they first attempted to give their children Isabelle, ten, Ace, eight, and Trixie, four, lessons away from the classroom.
In an exclusive interview The Voice presenter said she was aware of not wanting to pass on her worries to her young family and she eventually gave up on the ideal of being the ‘perfect’ homeschool teacher.
‘Pressure’: Emma Willis has revealed the ‘stresses’ and ‘frustrations’ she faced over ‘not being good enough’ at homeschooling her three children Isabelle, Ace and Trixie
She said: ‘For me in the beginning we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be perfect schoolteachers and make them have the absolute school day that they would have but at home.
‘I didn’t want my stress at having to be a schoolteacher and not being good enough having a knock on effect to them and them getting stressed because they know I’m getting stressed, or them getting worried because they know I’m getting wound up.
‘After a couple of weeks you realise, you know what I am not a schoolteacher, they aren’t at school and we have to do what we can do.
‘I have never loved teachers more in my whole life.
‘I have never loved teachers more’: The TV host said she and husband Matt put ‘a lot of pressure’ on themselves when they first attempted to give their children lessons
‘I mean when I can see my kids teachers again I think I will literally rugby tackle them to the ground in a purely loving way because I have never been so happy to see them.’
Emma, who’s also the host of Channel 4 reality show The Circle, said there have been moments during lockdown where she’s felt ‘scared’ and ‘down’ but focusing on the health of her family helped to banish her uncertainties.
She explained: ‘I think it was a shock to the system in the beginning.
‘Life isn’t the same anymore but with every day I felt a bit down or a bit rubbish or a bit unsure and scared, I just tried to gain perspective on the situation that was happening and think outside of my house and the bubble that I was in.
‘I remembered what was going on out there and the people on the front line.
‘It brings you back to your reality and I need to count myself very happy that I’m healthy, my family are touch wood at this point all doing OK and just remember what’s going on out there.’
‘It was a shock to the system’: Emma, who’s the host of The Voice and Channel 4 reality show The Circle, confessed to feeling ‘scared’ and ‘down’ during lockdown
Channel 4 confirmed that Big Brother will return this summer to celebrate 20 years since the show launched with Davina McCall, 52, and Rylan Clark-Neal, 31, presenting its best bits.
But former host Emma, who was last to front the series before it went off air in 2018, said she doesn’t ‘wish’ for it to comeback for good, choosing to treasure her memories of the show instead.
She said: ‘I love Big Brother, I have always loved Big Brother and I will continue to love Big Brother forever, as a viewer, as a fan and as a host.
‘It’s really hard to talk about something that doesn’t exist anymore.
‘I would obviously love to see it come back but I don’t think there’s – if you pine and wish for something to come back and it never does it leaves you really disappointed so I try to enjoy it for what it was and the memories I have of it, as a viewer and host.
‘If it comes back then amazing, I hope it comes back and I hope it’s made really well and does really well and has people that work on it that love it whether that be me, Rylan or Davina, whoever it is. Just someone that loves it as much as the previous hosts have.’
‘I will continue to love Big Brother forever’: The former Big Brother host says she doesn’t ‘wish’ for it to return permanently, choosing to treasure her memories of the show instead
Emma has joined forces with close friend and mother-of-three Giovanna Fletcher, 35, to raise money for charities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
They’re offering fans the chance to have a one on one experience with their favourite celebrities by donating to initiative Be My Guest, which is raising funds for Mind, NHS Charities Together, Refuge and The Trussell Trust.
Those donating could be in with a chance to have a virtual meet and greet with the likes of Spice Girl Mel C, 46, Voice coach Olly Murs, 36, and singer Paloma Faith, 38 – with new famous faces added to the lineup every week.
Talking about the cause, Emma said: ‘There’s nothing like a situation like this to make you realise how useless you are to a certain extent.
‘But the one thing we did have was contacts with people that could hopefully donate their time to raise money.
Good cause: Emma and Giovanna Fletcher are raising money for charity with their initiative Be My Guest, which aims to bring celebrities and their fans together in lockdown
‘Every week on a Tuesday at 5pm we will announce a new group of people.
‘You can donate money and be in a chance of winning your one on one screen time with them until the following Tuesday.
‘When they finish the next group of people get announced and you have a week to donate for.
‘We have a really great list of much loved UK entertainment people.
‘What happens in that video call, it doesn’t just have to be a chat, it could be a quiz or a DJ session. We are hoping the people donating their time will make it fun and a bit different.’
To make a donation to Emma and Giovanna’s initiative Be My Guest visit bemyguest.org