Matt Willis is fighting back against skeptics who criticized the way he celebrated his anniversary with his wife Emma Willis.
Love is blind Presenters Matt, 41, and Emma, 48, have been married since 2008 and have three children together.
Last month the couple celebrated their 16th anniversary and Matt decided to mark it in a very personal way.
He got a tattoo of his wife on his leg, wearing a dress and pouting.
He showed off the tattoo on Instagram in July, writing: “Happy anniversary @emmawillisofficial… I love you more than ever. 16 years and it just keeps getting better. Thank you @tomftattoo for your amazing work and for squeezing me in today in time.”
The reactions were mixed, to say the least.
One person wrote: “Happy anniversary but I’m not sure that’s much of a resemblance to Emma.”
Another said: “Nice idea, but doesn’t she look like her at all?”
And a third added: “How can anyone say this doesn’t look like her lol? Looks just like her! Happy anniversary!”
Matt then went into more detail on an episode of his podcast “On The Mend.”
He said: “Yes, (the tattoo) hurt. In case anyone doesn’t know, I got a new tattoo for my wedding anniversary. We’ve been married for 16 years and I thought I’d give my wife a gift by getting her tattooed on my leg.”
The couple has been married since 2008. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
According to Matt, Emma’s reaction wasn’t quite what he had hoped.
He added: “It was a beautiful thought. They say when you have plans, God laughs, don’t they? Whatever that means! But I had all these big plans and a big gesture of love, and I thought she would love it.
“Let’s just say it wasn’t that reaction. She wasn’t overjoyed, she was just like, ‘Oh, so you got a tattoo of me, on you, as a gift for my anniversary,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah.’ It wasn’t quite the reaction I wanted. But I love it, I love it, I think it’s sweet.”
Emma wasn’t exactly thrilled about the tattoo. (Instagram/@mattjwillis)
He also confronted the negative comments on Instagram.
Matt said: “I’ve gotten into the habit of checking comments now. I obviously uploaded a picture of my tattoo when I first got it done. It was sore and black and I uploaded it to Instagram. Never in my life have I had so many negative comments on something I’ve posted.
“It was a real test. I thought to myself, ‘Oh, how do I feel about these negative comments?’ But I kept coming back to what I say – what people say about me is none of my business.”
Tell them, Matt.
