Kate Garraway has admitted that caring for husband Derek Draper, who is suffering from one of the worst cases of Long Covid, has left her feeling "very, very alone".
The TV and radio host told LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty on Wednesday that being a carer has taken its toll.
The Good Morning Britain presenter said: “There is a sort of guilt because you don’t want to be feeling like anyone’s a burden and you’re very very alone. That’s the other thing. You feel very alone.”
Garraway, whose documentary Caring for Derek is nominated for a National Television Award, who has not just been caring for her husband but also raising their two children, and continuing with her career added: "People don’t think about it until they’re either in it and need themselves, or they’re doing it for someone they love.
"If you’re lucky it’s a temporary thing and you get better and you get on with your life, and if not it goes on and on…
"There were so many nights in hospital when I prayed to have the chance to care for Derek, because I thought that’s live or die.
"And then he comes home and there’s a whole different set of experiences you go through."
The 55-year-old, who is up for a National Television Award on Thursday for her acclaimed documentary, Finding Derek, had taken to social media the day before her interview to mark World Mental Health Day, with a video in which she spoke about her own struggles.
She said: "In the documentary [Finding Derek], you saw me frustrated, depressed, emotional and I’ve been all of those and more in recent weeks and months and more.
"Because that’s the thing with caring, you want it to carry on because you want the person to be surviving and still with you, so that you CAN care for them, but there isn’t an endpoint and it doesn’t get any easier."
Garraway’s former Labour spin doctor husband first became ill in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before finally being allowed to return home.
However, over the summer he was again hospitalised after he contracted life-threatening sepsis and was rushed into intensive care.
