Prior to being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023, Bruce Willis showed several subtle signs of ailing health, his wife has now said.
In a heartbreaking interview given to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America recently, Emma Heming - who wed the Die Hard actor in 2009 after several years of dating - recalled the years prior to the health blow.
For those in need of a reminder, Willis' dementia diagnosis was made public two years ago, along with his family's confirmation that the 70-year-old would be taking a step back from the spotlight.
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Emma, 47, and the movie star's ex-wife Demi Moore, 62, shared a statement at the time, which read: "As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research.
"Bruce always believed in using his voice in the world to help others, and to raise awareness about important issues both publicly and privately."
Sadly, however, speaking to press this week, mother-of-two Emma - who shares two daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10, with Willis - claimed it was her husband's famously 'warm' personality that took the first blow of his deteriorating condition.
Explaining that his changing persona was one of the earliest signs of the disease that doctors picked up on, she added that they now only see 'moments' of the old him.
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"It's his laugh, right?" Emma smiled during the television interview. "He has such a hearty laugh, and sometimes you'll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk. I just get transported."
She continued: "We still get those days. Not days, but we get moments.
"And it's just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes."
Elaborating on his 'alarming' personality shift, the former model went on to recall: "For someone who was very talkative and very engaged, he was just a little more quiet.
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"And when the family would get together, he would kind of just melt a little bit."
Emma continued: "He felt a little removed, very cold. Not like Bruce, who is very warm and affectionate. To go in the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary."
She added that her husband's 'language is going' in addition, which has prompted her family to 'learn to adapt' to a 'different way' of communicating with the star.
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"Bruce is still very mobile," Emma went on. "Bruce is in really great health overall, you know.
"It’s just his brain that is failing him."
Elsewhere during the interview, she reflected on the moment they finally received an official diagnosis following several months of confusion, claiming the words 'frontotemporal dementia' left her feeling she was 'free-falling'.
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"I was so panicked, and I just remember hearing it and just not hearing anything else," Emma confessed. "It was like I was free-falling."
That said, however, the mum-of-two claims she wouldn't have her life any other way, despite the difficulties.
"Love is beautiful," she told viewers. "It's grand. It's unconditional. I'm so lucky to feel the love."
Rhianna Benson