Bruce Willis' Wife Opens Up About How Their Daughters Have Been Affected By His Dementia Diagnosis

Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, has shared how his relationship with his youngest daughters has evolved since he was diagnosed with dementia.

In a recent interview with The Times, Emma reflected on how the two daughters she shares with Bruce, 13-year-old Mabel Ray and 11-year-old Evelyn Penn, have “adapted” as a result of their father’s condition.

In 2022, the action star was diagnosed with the frontotemporal dementia (FTD). While the condition diagnosis has severely affected Bruce’s language skills and behaviour, Emma shared with the British outlet how his youngest daughters have learned to adjust to their father’s illness.

“You can see the tenderness of it,” the model and dementia advocate said. “The girls don’t need him to be this or do that.

“They have really adapted to his disease, and they know how to move around him. It’s beautiful, but it’s hard for them. They miss him.”

Bruce’s family has even created their own language after she first noticed signs of his dementia.

“It’s just about sitting with him, walking with him, listening to him as he tries to verbalise in his own language. Hearing him, validating him,” she added to The Times. “It’s hard. FTD is just an unkind disease – it constantly takes. Even when you think it can’t take any more, it takes a little more.”

In another interview with People, Emma explained her husband’s diagnosis “requires a calm and serene” environment, which is why Bruce recently moved out of the family home and into a nearby property where he receives 24-hour care.

“We have two young children, and it was just important that they had a home that supported their needs and that Bruce could have a place that supported his needs,” she said.

In that same interview with People, Emma continued: “It’s heartbreaking to me. But this is how we were able to support our whole family, [and] it has opened up Bruce’s world.”

While the girls may no longer live with their father full-time, Emma explained that Mabel and Evelyn have playdates and sleepovers with him.

Emma has recently penned a book about her experience with her husband’s dementia, The Unexpected Journey.

She is also close with Bruce’s ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three grown-up daughters, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. The blended family often posts their support for each other in joint statements and social media posts.