Kate Garraway has discussed the challenges she faces as a solo parent following the death of her husband, Derek Draper.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, who shares children Darcey, 19, and Billy, 15, with Derek, spoke about the struggles of raising her kids without him.
The 57-year-old shared that being a single mother is the "hardest part of grieving."
Draper, her husband of 18 years, passed away at 56 in January last year following a lengthy battle with COVID.
The psychotherapist became critically ill in December 2023 following a cardiac arrest and he died after slipping into a coma.
She shared: “It's the hardest part of grieving. So many times I just think ‘Derek where are you?’
“When he was here we didn't plan which one of us was bad cop to the other's good cop. You sort of do it without thinking.”
“Now I have to be everything - the one who's fun, the one who chivvies everyone along and the one who yells, ‘Oh my god, you are going to fail everything’,” she told the Daily Mail Weekend Magazine.
“I make so many mistakes but doesn't everyone? Does the perfect mother exist? I suppose one of the things about what's happened is that I've had to have very grown-up conversations with my children.”
Draper was among the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020.
He was placed in an induced coma and it was not until more than a year later, in April 2021, that he was able to return home to his family.
Despite being free of the virus, he had suffered long-lasting damage to his organs and required daily care at home.
Last month, the broadcaster shared the heartbreaking plans she had for the future with Draper before his death.
The TV host explained that she and Draper, who would have celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this year, had “always” wanted to travel when their kids grew up.
“It’s sad in a way, because it’s a time that Derek and I always said we’d travel together and do more grown-up things. We used to love travelling and holidays,” she told HELLO! magazine.
Garraway also shared Draper’s wish for her and the kids to be “positive” and “get out and live”.
“I can begin to see a new positivity for the three of us – I am hoping. Where we don't look back and remember, ‘This time last year we were doing this or that with Dad,’ but focus on the future,” she said.
“Derek would want me to be grabbing life, because you learn how fast, and how easily, it can be snatched away. I know he'd be saying, ‘You've got to get out and live, because I can't.'”
