I’m a Celeb Changed Me - Matt Willis on the Secrets He Hid For Years
On The Mend
High Performance
4.9 • 566 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this solo episode, Matt Willis opens up about his past and the years spent in active addiction. He talks candidly about the contrast between public success and private struggle, the exhausting effort of keeping up appearances while quietly falling apart behind the scenes.
Matt revisits memories that are often blurred or painful to recall, reflecting on how addiction affected his relationships, his sense of self, and his ability to truly enjoy the moments he worked so hard for. He speaks honestly about the toll of secrecy, the regrets and missed opportunities, and the moments that finally pushed him toward change.
A raw, unfiltered look at memory, addiction, and the courage it takes to face your past in order to move forward.
Simba mattresses 👉Great recovery starts with great sleep. That’s why On The Mend is powered by Simba. Start your 200-night trial & experience the Simba difference: https://highpfrmc.com/OTM_Simba_AU
Heights👉 Join Matt in getting your energy back with Vitals. 20% off here: https://highpfrmc.com/OTM
London Nootropics 👉 Enjoy 20% off London Nootropics Adaptogenic Coffees with code ONTHEMEND here: https://highpfrmc.com/ldn-au
Need Support?
Samaritans: Call 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
Narcotics Anonymous: na.org
Alcoholics Anonymous: alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Mental Health Mates: mentalhealthmates.co.uk
Shout: https: giveusashout.org
IAPT: england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/nhs-talking-therapies/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Want to know who's coming up next? Hit follow wherever you get your podcast and you'll be the first to find out. |
| 0:10.0 | Hey everyone, Matt here. Welcome back to On the Men. This show looks back to move forward, right? So we thought today we're going to do something slightly different. We're actually going to take a little trip down memory lane, which I'm a bit scared about, if I'm honest, Gemma. I'm a bit, because we've got some photos that have been pulled out, which I don't know about. Some of them good, some really, really highs, some possible major lows. And I have a little look at where addiction plays into that, where ADHD plays into that, mental health issues along the way. |
| 0:40.3 | Who's up next week? Follow us to find out. Watch wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:45.3 | Suddenly, I'll see a photo of myself from the past and I'll even not remember being there at all. |
| 0:51.6 | Like, no recollection of being there. Or I'll have the worst haircut in the world. |
| 0:57.4 | There are some questionable haircuts. There are questionable haircuts, yeah. There'll be a lot |
| 1:00.6 | of questionable haircuts. Sylvia Young was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to my life. |
| 1:06.0 | I hadn't even really heard of Sylvia Young, and I sang in a Haven Holiday's talent competition. I sung |
| 1:13.1 | Don't Look Back in Anger. And I won this talent competition. And in the audience, on holiday, |
| 1:19.8 | that week, was someone who worked at Sylvia Young. And they were like, you should come |
| 1:24.1 | and check out the school. I was like, sounds great. What Sylvia Young |
| 1:28.4 | Theatre School never really heard of it. And so I went down to what I now realized was an audition, |
| 1:34.1 | and I sung Dung Look Back in Anger by Oasis for my Sylvia Young audition, because it was one |
| 1:39.2 | the only songs on all the words too. And all the scholarships have been taken. So there was no chance we could afford to go there. |
| 1:47.4 | And so Sylvia Young herself paid for me to go to that school. |
| 1:50.8 | Oh, it makes me get emotional. Like she literally, she took me to a side. She took my mom into the other |
| 1:55.8 | room and was like, we've given away. We only have two scholarships a year. We've already given |
| 2:00.7 | them out. But we believe in him and we want have two Scottish a year, we've already given them out, |
| 2:01.5 | but we believe in him and we want him to come here, so we'll work something out. And so |
| 2:07.3 | she paid for me to go. Recently, I went to Sylvia Young's funeral and I remember being |
| 2:14.1 | at the school and not telling anybody that I wasn't paying to be there because I felt |
| 2:18.2 | a bit, like, embarrassed almost, that I wasn't, couldn't afford to go there. I didn't want to let anyone |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from High Performance, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of High Performance and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.