Kate Garraway has been embroiled in an emotional confrontation with Matt Hancock, hitting out at the former health secretary for his affair with Gina Conadangelo at a time when her gravely ill husband Derek Draper was battling for his life. The Good Morning Britain host also put him on the spot over the decision toallow people infected with Covid to back into care homes at the height of thje pandemic.
It's now been close to three years since former political aide ands mental health champion Derek found himself close to death in hospital, after being struck down by coronavirus and then put in a medically induced coma as his condition deteriorated. Derek's life threatening battle with Covid came as the country was subject to the strictest lockdown rules, meaning that Good Morning Britain presenter Kate and the couple's children,. Billy and Darcy, couldn't see him for months.
Kate was left seriously concerned for Derek coming through the end and, when he was stabilised, was told he was the worst affected Covid survivor in the whole of the UK. Derek was eventually allowed to return to home in the spring of 2021, although is still very much on the road to recovery, with him being back in hospital on numerous occasions.
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Kate has made no secret of her disdain for Hancock's actions over the last few years, after it came to light that he had been having an affair with Gina, as infamous CCTV footage of them kissing in a Government office were plastered all over newspaper front pages.
And, just two months after Hancock's controversial stint in I'm A Celebrity, which ended up with him finishing third, Kate got an opportunity to tackle him head on over his serious breaches of his own rules.
Afte erxplaining to viewers that she had repeated contact with Hancock over the pandemic, even backing him on things like expanding the symptoms list and putting long Covid under a greater spotlight, Kate flagged Hancock's Downing Street affair and said: "I suppose the problem [upset at his rule-breaking] is you were the Health Secretary," she said.
"Because at that time it mattered and my husband Derek was in hospital and not able to see his kids. And the thousands of other people couldn't see people that they loved because they were following the guidelines."
Continuing to hold him to account, Kate went on: "The rules were very muddled for us out here. This gives the impression you still don't get why they are cross.
"You still don't get why people are upset. "They want to hold you to more account."
She added: "You made the decision to go in at a time before you had answered to the inquiry and at a time when people still feel very raw. "Can you explain now, because I am not sure people yet feel comfortable about why you did it?"
Responding to Kste, the disgraced former health secretary told her: "Oh I see absolutely. So I get all that I really do. And I really feel it.
"The reason I think it's important I wrote the book in particular, with the inquiry coming later, is I have to be completely open about what I did. Why I did it so I can be as open as possible."
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