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Emma Willis ‘overwhelmed’ by response to photo of son Ace wearing pink top

‘We’re raising him as an inclusive individual,’ says TV presenter

Sarah Young
Saturday 24 October 2020 13:54 BST
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Emma Willis 'overwhelmed' by response to photo of son wearing a pink top

Emma Willis has said she was “overwhelmed” by the response to a recent photo she shared of her son Ace wearing a pink top.

Last week, the host of The Voice posted a photo on Instagram of her eight-year-old son standing in the kitchen at home.

Ace could be seen facing away from the camera wearing a short pink T-shirt, jeans and pink trainers.

In the background of the shot was Ace’s father, former Busted star Matt Willis.

Willis captioned the image: “My little style icon (Ace, not Matt).”

The post went on to receive more than 75,000 likes, with hundreds of comments from users praising the image for breaking down gender stereotypes.

“Going to show this to my 10-year-old boy who is loving life and living to his own best also! Go Ace!,” one person wrote.

Another commented on Ace’s long hair, writing: “Hair envy!!! And I love pink on males!!! He is soooo ‘cool’!!!”

On Friday, Willis was asked about the reaction to the image during an appearance on Good Morning Britain and revealed that she is raising her soon to be “open-minded”.

“Do you know what I was really overwhelmed actually, because it’s just my son in a pink top ... and for me that’s kind of normality because he loves colour, he’s always had long hair,” she said.

“He’s a very free and open-minded boy who is like, ‘Why do I have to dress in green and blue and grey if I like pink and red and purple? Why is that not okay?’

“We’re raising him as an open-minded and inclusive individual.”

Willis added: “There was some negativity but that’s the beauty of the block button.”

The presenter and her husband met in 2005 before getting married in 2008.

Their first child Isabelle was born in June 2009, followed by Ace in 2011 and their youngest, Trixie, was born in 2016.

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