Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kate Garraway still sees ‘flashes of the old Derek’ as husband fights long Covid

Kate Garraway: ‘I still see flashes of Derek’ as husband’s Covid fight continues (Ian West/PA)
Kate Garraway: ‘I still see flashes of Derek’ as husband’s Covid fight continues (Ian West/PA)

Kate Garraway says she sometimes sees “flashes of the old Derek” while her husband continues to struggle with health problems caused by Covid-19.

The Good Morning Britain presenter said her husband, Derek Draper, experiences “a kind of heartbreak” every day.

Draper became seriously ill with the virus in March 2020 and spent months in hospital before finally returning home.

The 54-year-old former political adviser is now free of the virus, but has suffered long-lasting damage to his organs and requires care at home.

Garraway, also 54, told The Sun that she often feels “really lonely” while caring for her husband, and watching him confront his own reality.

“It’s like there’s both grief and hope in the same moment,” she said.

Mr Draper, a former political adviser, became seriously ill with the virus in March 2020 and spent months in hospital before finally returning home (Tony Harris/PA)

“There are flashes of the old Derek and then he disappears again, and you’re left just feeling really lonely.

“Derek dreams about the ‘before’, and every morning it’s just so, so awful seeing him wake up, and the realisation of where he is.

“There’s a kind of heartbreak in his eyes, every single morning. You can just see it.”

Garraway said that her husband used to be a big eater, and his now lack of appetite left her feeling like she was “living with a stranger”.

Garraway and Draper married in 2005 and have a daughter and a son, Darcey and Billy, and she recently took over hosting ITV series Life Stories from Piers Morgan.

She was made an MBE in the New Year Honours for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.

In ITV’s Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek, airing on February 22, viewers will see the family’s journey as Draper arrives home from hospital in April 2021.

The film is a follow-up to 2021’s Finding Derek, which showed how the family were coping as Draper was critically ill in hospital with Covid-19.