Rumer Willis revealed the moment she knew it was over between her and her daughter Louetta’s father, musician Derek Richard Thomas.
Willis told “The Inside Edit” podcast host Maeve Reilly on Wednesday’s episode that it was Reilly’s wedding that made her realize she didn’t want to be with Thomas anymore. Willis attended the celebrity stylist’s June 2024 wedding to real estate agent Zach Quittman’s in the Cayman Islands.
“Your wedding was a huge reckoning moment for me,” Willis told Reilly. “I heard your vows and I just realized that the situation I was in was never going to look like that, no matter how much effort I put in.”
She recalled, “And I was just watching you guys — just weeping, holding my child — and I just thought, you know what? I need to have more value for myself.”
Rumer Willis revealed on her friend Maeve Reilly’s podcast, “The Inside Edit,” that it was Reilly’s 2024 wedding that made her realize she needed to break up with her now ex, musician Derek Richard Thomas. The Inside Edit
Willis told Reilly that watching the celeb stylist and and her husband, Zach Quittman, exchange their vows made her realize that her relationship with Thomas was never going to be at that level. The Inside Edit
“I need to go and like, leave, no matter how scared I am and find something that looks like this, because I want that.”
Willis, 37, and Thomas, 31, were first linked in May 2022, and welcomed daughter Louetta in April 2023.
But Willis confirmed the two had separated and were co-parenting in August 2024.
Willis said she was just starting to feel “back in her power again” after going through the breakup.
“It was really brutal and challenging,” she said of her relationship with Thomas. “And I’m so proud of myself, you know? I work hard and I show up for my kid and it’s such a privilege.”
Thomas and Willis (pictured here in December 2023) started dating in May 2022. Chelsea Lauren/for Common Ground / Shutterstock
They welcomed their daughter, Louetta, in April 2023. They’re pictured here at their baby shower in March 2023. Michael Simon / Shutterstock
“It’s such a privilege to be a mom,” she continued. “It makes me so happy.”
Willis said she was grateful for the tough experience because she now had a higher set of standards for the next relationship she gets into.
She then shared that she was manifesting getting married next year and having more kids.
“I’m gonna meet this wonderful man,” she said of what she’s putting out in the universe for herself. “I can’t wait — I’m gonna have, like, seven more … I want to have like, eight kids. I’m so excited.”
Willis confirmed in August 2024 that she and Thomas had separated and were co-parenting Louetta, who’s seen here in January. rumerwillis/instagram
Back in November, Willis broke down in tears over the challenges of being a single mom to her daughter. rumerwillis/Instagram
Back in November, Willis got vulnerable with her Instagram followers when she posted video of herself breaking down in tears over the struggles of being a single mom to 3-year-old Louetta.
“She is not hard (ever) but some days doing everything alone can be,” she shared.
The eldest child of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore added, “Wow and [I] just realized I have food in my teeth … really winning today.”