Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins shared an update on Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper during Monday’s edition of the ITV show.
It comes after Derek suffered a heart attack which has reportedly left him in critical condition in hospital.
At the beginning of Monday’s programme, Charlotte told viewers: “We wanted to start with an update. You may have seen in the news over the weekend that Derek, Kate’s husband, is sadly in a very serious condition at the moment.”
Charlotte’s co-presenter Richard Madeley added: “Now we just wanted to let Derek and Kate and of course, the whole family knows that we are all here thinking of them. We know many of you are as well, and that all of us send them our very best wishes at what is an extremely difficult time.”
Since Derek fell ill, Kate has cancelled all of her television and radio appearances to keep watch over her husband.
In an article published by The Sun over the weekend, it was reported that Derek became ill on Monday (11 December), with a source telling the paper that the 56-year-old was in “great spirits” before suffering a heart attack
Derek was first admitted to hospital in March 2020 after he contracted coronavirus. He stayed in intensive care for over a year before returning home and now requires round-the-clock care from specialist nurses.
Back in October, Kate said that Derek was “not doing great” after battling “a nasty infection”.
More recently, Kate revealed that she never felt that her husband was “safe” due to his ongoing medical conditions whilst speaking on the Emotionally Speaking podcast in November.
“I think he’s had a big emotional struggle. One of the challenges with Derek is we’ve never felt like he is safe, so every infection and rush back to hospital might be the moment he is taken from us,” Kate admitted.
The mum-of-two went on to say: “When he wakes up in the morning it is heartbreaking because it feels as though you are watching someone who may have inhabited his old life in his dreams. And then he wakes up and you see the cloud descend of the battle he has ahead.”
The couple share two teenage children, Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14, who have both been dealing with their “own traumas” as a result of Derek’s condition.
During an appearance on ITV’s This Morning in September, Kate opened up about how her children have been coping.
“He is most alive when they’re around,” she said. “They are unbelievable. I haven’t really talked a lot about them in some ways, but they’ve had their own traumas and it’s not my story to tell.”
The 56-year-old continued: “So maybe one day they’ll tell it, I want to try and protect them in that way, but they’ve been amazing with him in their different ways. They’re so intuitive and it is love, I guess, isn’t it.”
