Bruce Willis and Wife Emma Heming Willis’ Relationship Timeline

Bruce Willis and Emma Heming Willis have been by each other’s side since their early 2000s meet-cute. The duo met in 2007 while working out at their mutual trainer’s gym. After two years of dating, Emma and Bruce walked down the aisle in Turks and Caicos. Six days later, they wed again in a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills. In 2012, the twosome welcomed their first child together, daughter Mabel. Two years later, they expanded their family with daughter Evelyn. (Willis previously welcomed three daughters, Rumer Willis, Scout Willis and Tallulah Willis, with ex-wife Demi Moore.) Nearly three years after Bruce and Heming Willis renewed their vows for their 10th wedding anniversary, the Willis family revealed in March 2022 that Bruce had been diagnosed with aphasia and would be retiring from acting. They gave fans an update on Bruce’s condition in February 2023, sharing that he received a “more specific diagnosis” of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), for which there are no treatments. Keep scrolling to see Heming Willis and Bruce’s relationship timeline:

The pair met at their mutual trainer’s gym.

Bruce was joined by Heming Willis, Moore, and daughter Tallulah for the premiere of his movie Flawless.

One year later, the couple tied the knot in Turks and Caicos. Less than a week later, they wed for a second time in Beverly Hills.

Two months after their nuptials, the newlyweds made their red carpet debut as husband and wife at the 2009 Met Gala.

The twosome welcomed their first child together, daughter Mabel.

Heming Willis gave birth to her and Bruce’s second child, daughter Evelyn.

The pair celebrated Bruce’s 60th birthday with a star-studded bash in New York City. After the party, the beauty guru gushed about her husband and shared some snaps from the festivities. “It's fair to say the birthday boy had a great time. #BWBirthdayBash,” she wrote via Instagram.

Heming Willis attended her husband’s Comedy Central Roast alongside his daughters Rumer, Tallulah and Scout.

The couple celebrated their 10-year anniversary by renewing their vows. “We said, we do, again, 10 years later 💞💍 #happyanniversarymylove,” she penned the post.

During lockdown, Bruce and Moore quarantined alongside their three daughters in Idaho while Heming Willis was in Los Angeles. After months of speculation, Scout revealed the reason why her stepmom was stuck in California.

“My stepmom was going to come up here too with my little sisters,” she explained in April 2020 during her “Dopey” podcast. “[But] my younger sister … [who has] never gotten a talk about not f–king with hypodermic needles … she found [needles at a park and] she actually tried to poke her shoe with it and poked her foot. So my stepmom had to be in L.A. waiting to, like, get the results for taking her to the doctor. My dad came up here early and then travel got crazy and my stepmom stayed in L.A. with my little sisters.”

One month later, Heming Willis reunited with her family.

The blended Moore/Willis family announced that the Red star was diagnosed with aphasia and planned on retiring from acting.

"To Bruce's amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” the women wrote via Instagram alongside a photo of her husband. “As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him."

The Malta native opened up about how she was faring two months after sharing her husband’s diagnosis.

“I put my family’s needs above my own, which I found does not make me any kind of hero,” Heming Willis said during an interview with The Bump. “That amount of care for everyone else within my household had taken a toll on my mental health and overall health. And it served no one in my family.”

Less than one year after announcing the Armageddon actor’s diagnosis, the family shared

“Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD),” Moore, Heming Willis and their respective daughters wrote in a statement. “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.”

Heming Willis shared a throwback video of Bruce showing his support for her CocoBaba body care line. The clip began with the Die Hard 2 actor saying, “Us Weekly interview with Emma Heming Willis, founder and CEO of CocoBaba." Emma asked her husband for his thoughts and he replied, "How 'bout it? I'm crazy about it." 

Heming Willis shared a sweet tribute to her husband on his 68th birthday. "He is pure love. He is so loved. And I'll be loving him always. Happy Birthday my sweet 💌," she wrote via Instagram. "My birthday wish for Bruce is that you continue to keep him in your prayers and highest vibrations because his sensitive Pisces soul will feel it 🙏🏽 Thank you so much for loving and caring for him too 💞."

At the time, she told fans via her Instagram Story that she spent the morning crying amid his health battle. "Sometimes in our lives, we have to put our big girl panties on and get to it, and that's what I'm doing," she said. "But I do have times of sadness every day, grief every day and I'm really feeling it today on his birthday."

On the couple's 14th wedding anniversary, Heming Willis expressed her gratitude for a friend's "act of kindness" that helped her commemorate the occasion.

"Today marks 14 years of marriage to the greatest love of my life. ... In passing at a school event for our children, I mentioned to my friend that our anniversary was tomorrow. Cut to, I get a text from my friend later that day that said she left 'a little something' for me at my door. It was this sweet bouquet of flowers," the actress wrote via Instagram alongside a photo of the floral arrangement.

Heming Willis noted that special occasions can be "hard" on caregivers as "usually our person would acknowledge the event" but "now their changing brains just can't." She encouraged her followers to extend similar kindness to the caregivers in their own lives.

"If you know someone that is looking after someone else, don’t ask what you can do, just do," she wrote.

Heming reflected on her 2019 vow renewal with her husband by sharing sweet video footage from the special occasion amid the actor's battle with dementia. 

“On our 10th wedding anniversary we decided to renew our vows in the same place we said ‘I do’ back in 2009,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a video from the big day. “I’m so happy we did. Seize every opportunity to unite and celebrate with family and friends. Those are the moments and beautiful pockets of memories that you get to hold on to for a lifetime. And we get to keep those memories safe and alive for the ones that might not be able to 💌.” 

The heartwarming clip, which showed the pair exchanging vows while the family cheered them on, was shot by Moore. Rumer and Scout performed a song for the intimate occasion while Mabel and Evelyn served as flower girls. Stephen Eads, who married the duo back in 2009, once again served as officiant.

Heming Willis shared a few snaps posing alongside Bruce as they celebrated a relationship milestone.

“16 years with this special man,” she wrote via Instagram alongside two photos of the pair kissing each other on the cheek. “My love and adoration for him only grows.”

She shared the same pics via her Instagram Story, writing, “16 years together!? Lord where did the time go.” In another Instagram Story post, she included a photo of her and Bruce kissing and wrote, “Sweet 16.”

Heming Willis shared a heartwarming tribute to her husband via Instagram for Valentine’s Day.

“Love is a beautiful thing ❤️,” she captioned a photo of herself and Bruce sharing an embrace at Niagara Falls. “Wishing you all a Happy Valentine’s Day 🫶🏽.”

To celebrate the holiday, Heming Willis spoke about navigating love and dementia and her relationship with Bruce at Hilarity for Charity’s virtual CareCon event. Advertised as an event to “spread love and support to care partners this Valentine’s Day,” Heming Willis expressed her excitement — and her nerves — about participating in the panel via her Instagram Story.

“Happy Valentine’s Day. I’m so excited to take part in my first CareCon,” she said. “I am gripped with fear right now. I’m not great at speaking live anyway, let alone talking about love and dementia, so, I will do my best.”

Heming Willis celebrated the pair’s anniversary in an emotional social media post, sharing a snap of the twosome smiling while sitting in water.

“17 years of us ❤️,” she wrote via Instagram. “Anniversaries used to bring excitement — now, if I’m honest, they stir up all the feelings, leaving a heaviness in my heart and a pit in my stomach. I give myself 30 minutes to sit in the ‘why him, why us,’ to feel the anger and grief.”

“Then I shake it off and return to what is,” she continued. “And what is … is unconditional love. I feel blessed to know it, and it’s because of him. I’d do it all over again and again in a heartbeat 💞.”

Emma paid tribute to Bruce on Father’s Day 2025. 

“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads living with disability or disease, showing up in the ways they can and to the children who show up for them,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a photo of Bruce and Evelyn. “What Bruce teaches our girls goes far beyond words. Resilience, unconditional love, and the quiet strength in simply being present.
This photo says so much. Love deepens. It adapts. It stays, even when everything else changes.”

Emma continued, “But to be fair to myself, these symbolic days stir up a lot.
I’m profoundly sad today. I wish, with every cell in my body, that things could be different for him and lighter for our family. As they say in our FTD community, ‘It is what it is.’ And while that might sound dismissive, to me, it’s not. It grounds me. It helps me return to the acceptance of what is and not fight this every step of the way like I used to.”

She concluded, “Today, let’s celebrate the badass dads, those who are here, and those we carry with us 💙
Onward.”