GOSSIP & RUMORS: Bruce Willis’ wife says separate living arrangements ‘prepare’ kids for his death

Bruce Willis’ wife is preparing for the worst amid the actor’s heartbreaking battle with frontotemporal dementia.

In her new book about acting as the beloved movie star’s caregiver, Emma Heming Willis revealed that she moved her husband into a second home to help their two young daughters get ready for his eventual passing.

“Giving and allowing the girls some space from Bruce also helps prepare them for his death,” Emma, 47, wrote in “The Unexpected Journey,” released Tuesday, Sept. 9.

“I know how dark and jarring that sounds,” she continued, “but that is the harsh reality of the world I must navigate to continue to protect our girls the best way I can.”

Although the former model admitted that she doesn’t have a “specific timeline” for Willis’ condition, she noted that the “average life expectancy” for someone with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is “seven to 13 years after the start of symptoms.”

Willis, 70, was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, which his family confirmed had progressed to FTD in February 2023.

“This disease of FTD is horrendous, but it gives you a little grace to be able to plan and organize your affairs,” she shared. “I think getting used to it being just the three of us in our home will lessen the shock for Mabel and Evelyn when the inevitable comes.”

“Until there is a cure, this disease will always win,” Emma added.

Emma further discussed her husband’s condition and the controversial decision to move him into a second home while speaking with Michael Strahan on Tuesday’s episode of “Good Morning America.”

“It was a hard decision for us, but it was the safest and best decision not just for Bruce but also for our two young girls,” Emma said while promoting the release of her new book.

“And, you know, it’s really not up for a debate,” she continued. “Now I know that Bruce has the best care 100% of the time. His needs are met 100% of the time, as well as our two young daughters. So I’m not gonna take a vote on that.”

Willis and Emma married in 2009 and have since welcomed daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11.

Although the “Sixth Sense” star’s other loved ones – including ex-wife Demi Moore, 62, and their daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31 – have also stepped up to support the now-retired actor, Emma remains his most dedicated caregiver.

The former model added that she “knew” her decision to move Willis into a second home would cause controversy, but she shared the news specifically to highlight the struggles that caregivers like her experience.

“I feel like caregivers are so judged, and it just goes to show that people sometimes just have an opinion versus really having the experience,” she explained. “And I’ll say that dementia plays out differently in every household.”

“If you’ve seen one case of dementia, it’s one case of dementia,” the “Pulp Fiction” star’s wife added. “So you have to do what is right for your family and what is going to keep your loved one safe, as well as your young children.”

Emma said that the actor’s neurologist opened her eyes to a startling statistic regarding caregivers and their loved ones.

“She delivered this statistic to me, letting me know sometimes caregivers die before their loved ones, and I think that was my wake-up call to realize that I need to get help, and I’m not a failure because I need help,” she told Strahan.

“It’s okay for me to raise my hand,” she shared. “I didn’t realize that I really needed permission for someone to tell me that it’s okay to get help.”

Emma first revealed that she was no longer living with Willis during a sit-down ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired last month.

“It was one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make so far,” she said during the “Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey” special. “But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters.”

However, after facing pushback for the decision to move the “Die Hard” star into a nearby home so he could get 24-hour care, Emma took to social media to fire back at her “loud” critics and their “noisy” concerns.

“What I knew was that by sharing some of our intimate information that we would see these two camps,” Emma said in an Instagram video. “It would be people with an opinion versus people with an actual experience.”

“That is what caregivers are up against,” she added. “Judgment from others and criticism from others.”