Kate Garraway has been dealt another financial blow after being hit with a £150,000 final bill to liquidate her late husband Derek Draper’s business.
The Good Morning Britain host, 57, has previously laid bare her fears over the large debt she faces following the long-term care of her late husband, a former lobbyist and New Labour insider who reinvented himself as a therapist.
Ms Garraway took on significant care duties when Draper became seriously ill with Covid in March 2020 until he died in January, aged 56.
She has been open about the crippling costs of care and in an interview on March she estimated the debt to be between £500,000 and £800,000.
She is now facing a further huge bill to liquidate Mr Draper’s psychotherapeutic company, Astra Aspera.
The Sun reported that she has been told to pay a £32,000 flat fee plus 40 per cent of assets recovered from the company, as well as a £112,836 bill to repay a director’s loan taken out by her late husband.
It added that liquidators are investigating whether any other assets can be used to pay off company debts.
The company was closed with £184,096.96 of debt, which left Kate with a £716,000 tax bill, according to the publication.
In a documentary released earlier this year about her late husband, Ms Garraway said her ITV salary isn’t enough to cover the debt she incurred from his care.
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Garraway said that Draper’s care costed more than her salary for her TV work, “and that’s before you pay for any bill”.
“I’m not going to pretend that I’m poorly paid. I have an incredible job that I love, which is well paid. But it’s not enough. Derek’s basic care is nearly £4,000 per week. And how can I afford that? How can anyone afford £16,000 per month?”
“I am in debt and I can’t earn enough to cover my debt because I am managing Derek’s care,” she said in a clip recorded before Draper’s death.
Earlier this month, Kate said she had resorted to withdrawing money from her pension pot to pay the huge bills and in April she revealed she couldn’t afford to have the heating on in October.
