Emma Heming Willis Gets Candid About Bruce Willis' Decline: 'Alarming' Symptoms Led to Dementia Diagnosis

In a preview of her sit-down with Diane Sawyer airing Tuesday night on ABC, the 47-year-old model shared how her husband, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023, is doing today.

"Bruce is still very mobile," Emma said. "Bruce is in really great health overall, you know. It's just his brain that is failing him."

Emma, who married the 70-year-old actor in 2009 and shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with him, admitted the family has had to make adjustments as his condition progresses.

"His language is going," she revealed, noting they've "learned to adapt" to communicate with him in "a different way."

When Sawyer asked if there are still glimpses of the old Bruce, Emma said, "We still get those days. Not days, but we get moments. It's his laugh, right? Like, he has such, like, a hearty laugh. And, you know, sometimes you’ll see that twinkle in his eye, or that smirk, and, you know, I just get, like, transported."

Fighting back tears, she added: "And it's just hard to see, because as quickly as those moments appear, then it goes. It's hard. But I'm grateful. I'm grateful that my husband is still very much here."

Reflecting on the devastating day they learned of his diagnosis, Emma recalled: "To leave there with nothing, just nothing, with a diagnosis I couldn’t pronounce, I couldn't understand what it was. I was so panicked. I remember hearing it and not hearing anything else. I was free falling."

She also said she doesn’t believe Bruce "ever really connected the dots" enough to understand his diagnosis.

Looking back, Emma described some of the early warning signs that something was wrong.

"For someone who was very talkative and very engaged, he was just a little more quiet," she explained. "When the family would get together, he would just melt a little bit. It felt a little removed, very cold, not like Bruce, who was very warm and affectionate. To go the complete opposite of that was alarming and scary."

Willis was first diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, prompting his retirement from acting. The following year, his family -- including ex-wife Demi Moore and their daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 34, and Tallulah, 31 -- confirmed his frontotemporal dementia diagnosis in a joint statement.

"While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis," they said at the time. "FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone."

Since then, family members have continued to share updates. In September, Tallulah told Today her dad is "stable, which, in this situation, is good," while Moore revealed to Variety earlier this year that she visits her ex-husband weekly.

"For me, there was never a question. I show up because that's what you do for the people you love," the 62-year-old actress said.

Emma, meanwhile, is sharing her own journey as a caregiver in her new book, The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path, out September 9.

Her ABC special, Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey, airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.