Kate Garraway has opened up about her ongoing grief, revealing she’s still at the early stages after the loss of her husband Derek Draper.
The 57 year old Good Morning Britain host has been through an emotional ordeal since Derek, a former author and psychologist, died in January. He had faced a prolonged health battle after contracting Covid in 2020, which was documented in the heartfelt ITV documentary ‘Derek’s Story’.
Their children, Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14, showed immense strength, with the couple’s daughter even taking on the role of pallbearer at her father’s funeral.
Despite returning to work soon after Derek’s funeral, Kate has understandably taken time off from her presenting duties. Speaking to The Mirror, she expressed her anticipation for the upcoming Prince’s Trust Awards, a welcome positive focus.
“I’m very excited. It’s going to be a beautiful event, it always is. Everybody here is amazing,” Kate shared.
“I’m only at the beginning of grief really. I’m just three months in so there are many ups and downs to come. At the moment it’s about focusing on the youngsters, Billy and Darcy and focusing on doing things like this when I can that I haven’t been able to do.
“And at the moment it’s all about keeping busy. I’m sure there will be a moment where I have to stop and deal with it. But at the moment I’m just keeping busy. Help is there. You just have to ask for it.
“And sometimes you have to ask for it time and time again. And hopefully, organisations like the Prince’s Trust which is particularly good at identifying people, will be there to scoop you up.”
She then elaborated on the vitality of having support from others, saying: “Community is everything, whether it’s friends or colleagues, or your neighbours down your street.
“It keeps us going. It’s the structure that carries us through life.”
Recently, Kate has candidly disclosed her financial challenges after caring for Derek.
The ITV presenter divulged that she withdrew funds from her pension ahead of schedule to manage the spiralling costs.
Kate confessed: “I have had to withdraw the bit you can tax-free from my pension to pay for belated bills for my husband, who has now passed away. People are having to do things – it wasn’t a huge pension in the first place – which aren’t what they saved for.”
