Emma Heming Willis is opening up about her husband, actor Bruce Willis’s battle with dementia in the hopes of being an advocate for caregivers who are tackling similar situations.
In an Aug. 26 preview, which aired on “Good Morning America,” Heming Willis, 47, sat down with ABC’s Diane Sawyer to share his current status and the warning signs that led to a diagnosis.
“Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know,” she said during the exclusive special dubbed: Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey. “It’s just his brain that is failing him.”
In 2023, Willis’s family announced the “Die Hard” actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) after initially suffering from aphasia, a disorder that impacted his ability to speak, write, and understand language.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, FTD is one of the less common types of dementia that affects the neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
Similar to aphasia, the condition can lead to deterioration in “behavior, personality and/or difficulty with producing or comprehending language.”
The British model and actress told Sawyer she noticed a number of warning signs in her husband’s behavior in comparison to how he would typically communicate.
“For someone who was very talkative and very engaged, he was just a little more quiet,” she noted. “When the family would get together, he would kind of just melt a little bit.”
The couple have been married for 16 years and share two daughters together, Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11. Willis has three other daughters from his previous marriage to actress Demi Moore.
“He felt a little removed, very cold,” she continued. “Not like Bruce, who is very warm and affectionate. To go in the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary.”
Her comments come on the heels of her upcoming Sept. 9 book release called “The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path.”
Taking to Instagram back in April, Heming Willis said she hopes her book will offer guidance and serve as a road map for other caregivers who at times feel alone and scared when faced with uncertainty.
“This is the book I trust will help the next caregiver. It is filled with support, insight, and the hope needed to navigate this journey,” she wrote at the time.
“This book is for all of us finding our way through the unknown with love, grit, and courage. You are not alone.”
Despite the challenges, Heming Willis said she is simply grateful to have her husband by her side, getting glimpses of the man he used to be and adapting to the man he is now.
“The language is going, and, you know, we’ve learned to adapt,” she told Sawyer. “We have a way of communicating with him, which is just a … different way.”