Kate Garraway to speak about husband’s death on return to Good Morning Britain

TV presenter Kate Garraway is set to return to her role at ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday when she will speak about the death of her husband.

The funeral of Derek Draper, which was attended by figures including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, musician Sir Elton John and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, was held on Friday at the Church of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, north-west London.

Former political lobbyist-turned-psychologist Draper married the GMB presenter at the same church in September 2005.

Draper fell seriously ill during the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged.

He died on January 3 aged 56 after suffering long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus.

Now Garraway, 56, is set to give a live interview on Monday on GMB during which she will discuss her husband’s last weeks as well as his funeral ceremony.

She is then set to return to hosting the show from Thursday alongside Ben Shephard.

GMB posted on X: “Kate Garraway has shared the story of caring for Derek over the last four years, highlighting the struggle faced by thousands.

“Tomorrow, she returns to Good Morning Britain to talk for the first time since the death of her beloved husband.”

A key figure in the early years of New Labour in the 1990s, Draper was a former researcher for Lord Peter Mandelson.

Draper, a former director of lobbying firm GPC Market Access, was caught up in the lobbygate scandal in the 1990s and left politics.

He later founded and edited LabourList, a left-wing rival to online portals such as ConservativeHome, but stepped down from the site in 2009.

Draper was admitted to hospital in December after suffering a heart attack.

Garraway announced her husband’s death on Instagram, with a post saying: “As some of you may know, he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.”

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