Kate Garraway has opened up about the "biggest challenge" she has in caring for husband Derek Draper and addressed the "tsunami of loneliness" she feels at times she is with him.
The GMB presenter, 54, will be showing viewers what life has been like caring for Derek - who needs round-the-clock care after contracting Covid in March 2020 - in a new documentary on ITV.
Housebound Derek – who left hospital last year after 13 months and after being in an induced coma – is getting around the clock care which Kate says he needs to stay alive.
Opening up about caring for her husband, she said: "The biggest challenge is the emotional challenge of adjusting... it's the constant measuring of what is the future."
She also explained that she found "navigating the social care system" incredibly challenging.
"It's really hard and I did think long and hard about doing another documentary," she said. "I did think long and hard about whether we had another story to tell because I didn't want it to be another pity party... it is the challenge for anyone who is trying to work their way through the social system."
Kate also hopes that the documentary might help show the effects of Long Covid and explore the unknown, vowing: "We just have to keep doggedly fighting on."
She went on to address taking Derek to Mexico for treatment.
Quizzed on the trip, she said that they were "on a journey" to find out whether Derek could be helped.
"The people that are treating Derek are very careful about not getting false hope," she said. "Hopefully over the next few months we'll be able to say more."
She also spoke about the loneliness she felt caring for Derek, admitting that she also often felt guilty too.
"There's a sense of loneliness and a sense of guilt," she said. "There's the one-to-one relationship that is just such an emotional rollercoaster... there's a tsunami of loneliness.
"You're on the verge of grief and delight all the time."
*Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV
