Matt Willis
Mathew James Willis (born 8 May 1983), previously known as Matty Jay, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He is known as co-founder, bassist and co-vocalist of the pop-punk band Busted. Willis released his debut solo album Don't Let It Go to Waste on 20 November 2006. It contains three top-20 singles.[1]
For other people named Matt Willis, see Matt Willis (disambiguation).
Matt Willis
3
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- television personality
- actor
- Vocals
- bass guitar
- drums
1998–present
In December 2006, Willis won the sixth series of the ITV reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He co-presented the ITV2 spin-off show with his wife Emma in 2007 and 2008. In 2014 Willis played the role of Garth Stubbs in the revived ITV sitcom Birds of a Feather and Luke Riley in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.
Early life[edit]
Willis was born in Tooting in London on 8 May 1983. He has an older brother, but their parents separated when he was only three years old. His mother later remarried and had his half-sister.
Willis had three different last names legally while growing up. His original last name was Willis, after his father; this was changed to Woods after his parents split, and later it changed to Sargent after his mother remarried.
Willis has noted he was a "problem" child, regularly sneaking out of the house by climbing down drain pipes. He also as a child suffered from tunnel vision, asthma and hyperactivity problems. Willis attended Woking High School[2] 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 friends Lee Ryan, Tom Fletcher, Billie Piper, Jodi Albert and the late Amy Winehouse.[3]