Wrapped up for the cold weather, Kate Garraway and husband Derek Draper were spotted on a rare public outing over the weekend. The couple were snapped heading off to their local pub.
The ITV presenter and her husband, a former political advisor and lobbyist, were reported as heading out to enjoy a Sunday lunch. Derek's long health battle has been well-documented and while Kate has shared her husband's plight over the last few years in the form or updates and documentaries, it is rare to see the couple out and about together.
The Mirror reported that the pair, who share two children together, looked delighted to be out of the house with Kate braving the weather in a full-length padded coat and beanie hat, while Derek sported a waterproof coat and gloves. Derek, in a wheelchair being pushed by a friend, was said to have looked in good spirits as he wrapped up from the cold.
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Derek fell victim to Covid-19 in early 2020 and was left critically ill and hospitalised for more than a year. When he returned home from hospital in April 2021 he still required care and assistance. He is regularly readmitted to hospital, as he struggles to return to full health following first contracting the viral disease.
Kate has previously explained that she documents her husband's health battles to help others who don't have a platform. Speaking on the Walt Disney Travels Journey to the Magic podcast, Kate explained to I'm A Celebrity star Giovanna Fletcher: "It's one of those things that you don't want to have a reason to make, but Derek found himself very, very ill at the very beginning of Covid.
"Then because he was quite well known and I'm on telly, people start to identify with you, and people that are going through it perhaps don't have the chance to speak up about all the various things and the challenges that are still going on."
She added: "So yeah, it was the chance to do it, and I'd actually started filming myself because nobody could visit Derek in the hospital, obviously, just like for everybody else and after a while, they set up an iPad for him and we could FaceTime to try and get him out of the coma.
"And it was so emotional seeing him with all the tubes and everything that goes with it and in such a sick state."
She continued to explain that she "couldn't take in" the sight of her husband being hooked up to multiple hospital machines and became "overwhelmed" as she struggled to notice whether Derek had improved on each occasion she had seen him.
However, Kate was not aware of how to film with sounds but explained: "I would watch it back and I would remember what I had said and try and see if there was a reaction. Then I had all this material and they said 'we'd like to do something' and I said 'well I don't know what the end of the story is yet but you're right. Let's try and do something, so yeah'."
Last year, Kate emotionally confessed she often worries people are "fed up" of hearing her talk about her husband as she opened up about some of the challenges that come with being a carer. However, the 55-year-old presenter was reassured by her co-host Ben Shephard during an emotional chat on the Lorraine show in December, as ITV launched their 1 Million Minutes campaign.
As the duo sat down with Lorraine Kelly to discuss how people can pledge their time to help end loneliness across the country, conversation turned to how Kate copes as a carer to Derek. "You know, it is an onslaught - it is a long onslaught," Kate admitted as she spoke with co-stars Ben and Lorraine.
"I can see he has better days, he has worse days - he's thankfully at home now. It's been a long battle to get him back home again." The broadcaster went on to confess: "I think it's very tough on him but it's very tough on the people around me. All jokes aside, Ben for all his unbelievable cheek, has been extraordinary because I can't help think all the people around me, people at GMB and radio as well, must be fed up to the back teeth. That is the problem I think if you are caring or have a long-term situation."
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