Kate Garraway has made her first public TV appearance since the death of her husband, former political lobbyist Derek Draper.
In an emotional interview with her Good Morning Britain co-presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid, the 56-year-old shared that she had originally been told Derek had just 24 months to live a whole month before he passed on the 5th of January 2024.
Derek, who had been married to Good Morning Britain host Kate since 2005, suffered severe complications after contracting Covid in March 2020.
Derek spent a year in hospital after being placed in a coma, with the virus causing long-lasting damage to his organs, leaving him in need of constant care after he returned home in April 2021.
In a statement, Kate said her “darling husband” had died and she had been “holding his hand throughout his last long hours”.
Speaking from her home via a video link this morning, the mum-of-two also revealed the ‘brave’ final words her daughter Darcey shared with Derek.
“Derek could still hear,” Kate explained. “It was a challenge to make Derek not feel like he was letting us down. They were so beautiful the children, about that.
“Darcey said, ’Dad if you can’t do this we’ll be OK, you release yourself if you need to go. Don’t worry about us.′ I thought that was brave.”
The17-year-old also helped carry her father’s coffin at Derek’s funeral on Friday 2 January, where former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, musician Sir Elton John and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer were among the names in attendance.
Kate shared: “Darcey came into the room when we were talking about it. She said, ‘Will you let me carry the coffin?’ I thought crikey, that’s a practical challenge. She said, ‘I want to do it.’ She insisted on doing it. I thought that was a beautiful thing.”
During his political career, Derek was a former aide to then-Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and later became a Labour campaign advisor.
He also worked as a journalist and columnist, and trained as a psychotherapist.
Derek also published two books, Blair’s 100 Days and Life Support.
Throughout Derek’s health issues, Kate had regularly updated the public on his condition, and won praise in 2021 for the documentary Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, which won a National Television Award.
She followed this with a second documentary, subtitled Caring For Derek, in 2022, showing how her family life had changed in the wake of his illness.
Derek is survived by wife Kate and their two children, Darcey and Billy.