Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming has pulled back the curtain on the origins of their romance, as she nurses him now through his dementia decline.Willis, 71, and Heming, 50, exchanged vows in 2009 and have since welcomed two daughters into the world, Mabel, 14, and Evelyn, 12.They were first introduced in 2005 after crossing paths at their mutual gym, the Los Angeles outpost of trainer-to-the-stars Gunnar Peterson.Heming was a model who that year was named one of Maxim's Top 100 beautiful women and had previously walked for Victoria's Secret, while Willis was a longstanding Hollywood icon, although she claimed she had 'never really thought about' him prior to their meeting because of her indifference to action movies.After her initial encounter with him, she effused to her mother about how 'lovely' he was, only to be sternly reminded she was in fact engaged to another man.However 'years later, after my engagement fizzled,' Heming finally began dating Willis, she shared Today show veteran Hoda Kotb's podcast Making Space.The Daily Mail has contacted Willis and Heming's representatives for further comment. Bruce Willis' wife Emma Heming has pulled back the curtain on the origins of their romance, as she nurses him now through his dementia decline; pictured 2009, the year they married When they met in 2005, Heming was a model who that year was named one of Maxim's Top 100 beautiful women and had walked the 2001 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (pictured) In 2023, Willis' family announced that his aphasia had 'progressed' and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) Although Heming declined to name her ex-fiancé on the podcast, the man in question was Los Angeles nightlife entrepreneur Brent Bolthouse, who later featured on The Hills and now owns the Santa Monica hot spot The Bungalow.The Daily Mail has contacted Bolthouse's representative for comment. Heming recalled that she and Willis met 'at the gym, like most people in Hollywood do, I guess. His time was before mine and we would sort of overlap.' She was struck by 'how warm and charismatic, how funny he was, but always really took the time to want to learn more about me, more about who I was, about my life.' The Malta-born fashionista alleged that 'prior to that, I'd never really thought about Bruce Willis. I grew up watching Moonlighting, but I was never an action movie fan.'Willis first rocketed to nationwide heartthrob status on Moonlighting, a 1980s detective series starring him opposite The Last Picture Show actress Cybill Shepherd.'So, when I had noticed him, I had said to my mother: "You know, I met Bruce Willis, and he's really a lovely man." And my mom was like: "What are you doing? You're engaged to be married." And I said: "No, no, no!" Heming said with a laugh.She confessed: 'Yes, at the time, I was engaged to be married, but I had met him and I had just noticed that. And it wasn't until years later, until after my engagement fizzled - thankfully - that we went on our first date, and I just really loved being around him.'Heming fondly remembered: 'There was just something really warm, safe and fun. My husband is just so full of life and it was a really beautiful time.' Although Heming declined to name her ex-fiancé on the podcast, the man in question was Los Angeles nightlife entrepreneur Brent Bolthouse, whom she is pictured with in 2006 After her initial encounter with Willis, she told her mother how 'lovely' he was, only to be sternly reminded she was in fact engaged to another man; Heming and Willis pictured 2008 She and Willis made their way down the aisle in 2009, about 11 years on from his separation from his first wife Demi Moore; Willis and Heming pictured that yearShe and Willis made their way down the aisle in 2009, about 11 years on from his separation from his first wife Demi Moore, with whom he amicably co-parented his three eldest daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 35, and Tallulah, 32. Shortly after marrying, Willis and Heming sat for a joint profile in which he raved: 'I went from: "F*** love," to: "Love is truly the answer." I spent the last 10 years single and, for the most part, unhappy. In a dark place,' via W.'I never thought that being with someone else was the answer. I would say: "I’m alone, but I’m not lonely." But I was just kidding myself. Then I started hanging around Emma, and on a day-to-day basis my life became much happier.'Willis withdrew from Hollywood in 2022 after developing the brain condition aphasia, which causes the patient's language abilities to deteriorate.In 2023, his family announced that his illness had 'progressed' and he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD).Heming, Moore and all of Willis' daughters rallied around him, and Heming has since released a bestselling book about his illness called The Unexpected Journey.In a joint couple's interview promoting the memoir, Heming revealed that the 'hardest decision' she took while looking after Willis was moving him into a separate one-story house away from their primary residence.He lives there with a full-time care team, while Heming brings Mabel and Evelyn to visit him 'a lot,' including for breakfast and dinner, she told Diane Sawyer on ABC. Willis has seen Heming and their daughters rally around him, as well as his first wife Demi Moore and their three daughters Rumer, 37, Scout, 35, and Tallulah, 32 'Bruce would want that for our daughters,' Heming insisted. 'He would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs.'Days after the broadcast aired, Heming complained on Instagram that she had been criticized online for shifting Willis into a separate house.She argued she had been judged 'quickly and unfairly,' saying viewers were split between 'people with an opinion versus people with an actual experience.'A family insider informed the Daily Mail last year that the Die Hard icon was 'going downhill fast' to the point he 'doesn't know some faces' anymore. The source said Willis' daughters were 'all spending as much time with him as they can,' adding: 'He lights up when he sees his children.'