Kate Garraway to return to Good Morning Britain desk following husband’s funeral

By Laura Harding, PA Deputy Entertainment Editor

Kate Garraway will return to the desk on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Thursday, less than a week after the funeral of her husband Derek Draper.

The TV presenter will be back at work on the ITV breakfast show following an emotional appearance on the programme on Monday morning when she discussed how her children have been handling the loss of their father.

Draper’s funeral, held last Friday, was attended by figures including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, musician Sir Elton John and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The service was held at the Church of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, north-west London where the TV star and the former political lobbyist-turned-psychologist married 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.

During an appearance on GMB on Monday, Garraway praised the strength their children Darcey and Billy have shown since their father died.

She also addressed her decision to return to work, saying: “I think some people say: why are you going back to work? Well, everybody does have to, don’t they? Life has to start.”

She also joked: “I’m going to be looking forward to a blow dry.

“I’m going to be finding fake eyelashes. I’m going to be very much looking forward to applying fake tan.

“Don’t worry, I will be a little bit more respectable by Thursday. I’ll be doing a lot of homework between now and then because I feel like I’ve been in a very small bubble.

“So I’m going to look forward really to coming into the world and sharing what’s going on for everybody else and connecting with everybody again.

“So, thank you for having me back, and have a little bit of patience. I might be a bit rusty … There is a new king, isn’t there? Have I caught up with that?”

Good Morning Britain is on ITV from 6am.