Kate Garraway has impressed her loyal fans with her incredible strength since losing her husband of 20 years, Derek Draper, in January. After returning to her Good Morning Britain hosting chair just a few weeks after his death, the telly star has been open and honest about adjusting to life as the only living parent of her and Derek’s two children – Darcey, who turned 18 last month, and Billy, 14.
Now the former I’m A Celebrity contestant has spoken about the family’s summer plans, revealing she intends to ensure they “do something lovely” during their first summer break without their husband and father, who died after a four-year battle with the devastating effects of Covid.
“We will get a family holiday. But it’s going to be a bit challenging because it’s a different kind of family set up that we have now, but we will do something lovely,” she told MailOnline at the Variety Club Showbusiness Awards on Sunday night.
The former political lobbyist was first admitted to hospital in March 2020 with Covid, and he remained there under constant medical supervision for around a year. After being allowed home to the family’s north London home, Kate shared that he required round-the-clock care as the virus had wreaked havoc on his body.
In December last year he was readmitted to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, despite appearing in generally good health beforehand, and sadly died on 3 January. At his funeral, teenager Darcey bravely carried his coffin in to and out of the packed service.
During his life, Derek and Kate made a number of documentaries about their experience, with the latter hoping to shine a light on the plight of carers. After their most recent one, Derek’s Story on ITV ,which aired after Derek’s death, Kate revealed the considered pulling it at the last minute but decided to air it in honour of her late husband.
She revealed: “After he passed away you’re consumed with grief and the funeral, the children, his mum and dad, all those things. Lucy Wilcox, an excellent producer, rang me very upset and said we do have this thing ready to go, what do we do now? My initial reaction was we can’t do it now, it’s too painful.”
She said she felt not airing the show would actually be “selfish”, and acknowledged that the documentary would shed an important light on the carer system and those who work in it.
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