Emma Willis still mourning Big Brother nearly a year after show was axed

Emma Willis has said she still misses Big Brother and she hopes it returns to screens one day.

The long-running reality series was axed by Channel 5 last September as the final series started.

Willis had hosted the reality show since 2013, with two celebrity versions per year plus the civilian one throughout summer.

Nearly a year since it was axed, Willis told PA: “I always miss the idea of Big Brother, because I love it and I’m a die-hard, loyal fan, but unfortunately it doesn’t exist at this moment in time.

Nuala McGovern to take over from Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour

Kate Garraway offers update after receiving ‘unsettling post’ for late husband

“I will always miss it, but maybe one day they will bring it back.”

The programme – which saw housemates live together in a custom-built home for weeks without access to the outside world in a bid to win a cash prize – started in 2000 on Channel 4, and Channel 5 took over in 2011.

It was previously hosted by Davina McCall for its run on Channel 4, before former Big Brother winner Brian Dowling took over when it moved to Channel 5. Willis replaced him after two seasons.

Willis, 43, also hosts The Voice UK but has turned her attention to her Delivering Babies programme, which returns for a second series next month.

The first series saw the presenter train for three months at Harlow Hospital as a maternity care assistant, working four shifts a week alongside the midwifery team helping to deliver babies.

In the new series, she puts everything she learned last year to the test, working on the same ward as a fully-qualified maternity care assistant.

Willis said the show is “a nice little reality check” for her, in her “very fluffy world of telly”.

She added: “It’s nice because it gives you a brilliant sense of perspective, but it was very odd to go from putting a feeding tube in a baby to having a meeting about designing clothes at Next. That was like, ‘What is happening to my life?'”

The broadcaster, who has three children with husband Matt Willis, said she would never been able to share her own births on camera.

However, she said her husband had his phone out during labour and she watches the footage of her babies being born “frequently”.

She added: “It’s the most special thing in the world, so I do think it’s a great memory to have, and to show them one day.”

Emma Willis: Delivering Babies returns to W on Monday August 5.