Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper died this week at the age of 56 after his battle with long COVID.
It was reported that prior to Christmas the Good Morning Britain host, 56, was preparing their children for a heartbreaking Christmas after Derek suffered a heart attack.
Kate Garraway had cancelled her work commitments following the incident to hold a 24/7 vigil alongside her husband.
Broadcaster Kate and Derek shared two children – Darcey, 17, and 14-year-old William, known as Billy.
Kate has praised the children’s handling of their late father’s illness and has given an insight into the precious relationship they had with him…
Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper (right) died this week at the age of 56 after his battle with long COVID (Kate and Derek pictured with daughter Darcey, left, and son William, second left, in 2019)
Broadcaster Kate and Derek shared two children – Darcey, 17, and 14-year-old William, known as Billy (Derek pictured with his children in 2010)
Who are Derek Draper and Kate Garraway’s children?
The couple shared two children, Darcey and William.
The pair welcomed their eldest child, Darcey into the world on March 10, 2006.
More than three years later, Kate gave birth to their son William, who is lovingly nicknamed Billy, on July 28, 2009.
Darcey and William were 14 and 10 years of age when Derek first contracted COVID-19.
How did Derek Draper and Kate Garraway’s children react to the news of their dad’s illness?
Kate said her children were trying to remain positive when Derek was first hospitalised in 2020.
She said they would chat to him over video call when they were unable to visit him due to lockdown restrictions.
Kate Garraway praised her two children for the way they handled her husband Derek Draper’s Covid battle (pictured in 2018)
The television presenter told HELLO! magazine: ‘We’re keeping positive and doing everything we can to bring him around.
‘The children and I communicate with him every day on FaceTime, while a nurse holds his iPad. My priority is to make the children feel safe, not to let them see me feeling vulnerable in the world where Derek was my rock.’
She added: ‘During their chats, they tell him what they’ve been doing, and their sense of humour often shines through. Darcey, who wants to be a barrister, said: “Dad, you’d better get better soon because I’m getting cleverer every day. You’ll never win an argument if you don’t get well soon.”‘
Kate previously praised her ‘heroic’ children for knowing ‘how to communicate’ with their father when he returned home from hospital but was left unable to talk due to his illness in 2021.
She told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2 at the time: ‘He isn’t really able to speak at the moment so he can’t tell him off, I have to be the bad guy! They are besides themselves to have him home. They are my heroes.
‘They know instinctively how to talk to him but not ask too much from him. In a way that grownups want to see the old Derek, they have an instinct, there is a lot of love there.’
What did Derek Draper and Kate Garraway’s children do when he was rushed to hospital?
Kate said in September that she and her family had learned to get themselves through the trauma of what had happened by running on adrenaline.
She said they’d come to terms with the fact that Derek’s situation was ongoing and that things may change from one moment to the next.
Kate said on Heart Breakfast: ‘I think it’s been quite interesting, I think some of what I’ve been writing about in the book [The Strength of Love], is the fact that you have adrenaline, don’t you, when something dramatic happens.
‘I talk about what I think is adrenaline, it’s a bit of a frenemy. One level it’s fantastic, it gets you through the crisis, and then as time goes on, it’s not great for your own health.
‘Derek himself has been living on a version of adrenaline as well. And the kids have too in their own way, so I think the last year and a half really, has been coming to terms with the fact that we’re not in a “one week” “two week” “three month” drama.
‘We’re in something ongoing and I think weirdly, that’s how its felt for everybody beyond the pandemic.’
How did Derek Draper’s children support mum Kate Garraway through their dad’s illness battle?
Kate was left shocked in 2021 when her eldest child asked ‘out of the blue’ if she was planning to take her own life – but she realised Darcey was just looking out for her mother.
During a appearance on This Morning, Kate said: ‘They were at times wondering if I was going to be okay, was I going to be able to keep going.
‘Darcey at one point actually said, “Mum – are you going to kill yourself?” Out of the blue.
‘The thing is, that sounds horrific, obviously. But if you know Darcey, she’s really blunt. She will always go to the most awful thing you can imagine and work her way back.
Kate was left shocked in 2021 when her eldest child asked ‘out of the blue’ if she was planning to take her own life – but she realised Darcey was just looking out for her mother (pictured in 2021)
‘She just came out with the sentence, and I said, “Oh my God, no. Why would you think that?” She said, “I wasn’t, but I just thought I better check.'”
Kate told Darcey at the time: ‘If anything it’s the absolute opposite. I can’t imagine what would be more opposite. I’m so scared you thought of that.’
The TV star continued on This Morning: ‘And she was like, “Don’t make a big thing of it.” It showed at the very least she wanted affirmation. And also made me realise she wasn’t just worried about her dad, but thinking of me and her brother.
‘I don’t think I realised how much they were taking care of me quite a lot along the way. The first moment was they wanted to watch Father Brown and I thought, “This is a very odd thing for a teenager to be choosing to watch. But I realised they knew I loved it, and they wanted to do things for me.”‘
The touching moments Derek Draper and Kate Garraway’s children had with their dad before his death
Kate said the children were ‘beside themselves’ to have Derek home from hospital when he left in 2021.
Discussing the relationship between the kids and Derek, Kate said: ‘He’s their Daddy. And it’s interesting, he comes most alive I think when they’re around, not so much me, let’s be honest, but no, of course there is a huge amount of love for me!
‘He does come alive and you can see him kind of trying to be the old Dad as much as he can, trying to make them laugh, trying to do different things.
‘But they’ve had to realise that, I mean Derek was this kind of loud, rumbustious, huge, you know… overwhelming… and god how we loved it, but he’s not that now, so they’ve had to readjust.
‘You know how you bounce off your parents, different boundaries, and they are doing it brilliantly. They’re navigating it brilliantly.’
What does the future hold for Derek Draper and Kate Garraway’s children?
In an interview with The Times in September 2023, Kate shared that she worried about her children during her husband’s health struggle.
Looking back on their lives, Kate confessed she is not ‘equipped’ for raising their teenage children without her husband.
‘My instinct is always keep everything good, keep everything nice, but he was always fine with stand-up rows,’ she said. ‘He said it was all about boundary-setting, so I always felt he was going to be amazing in their teens.
‘So I feel, like, “Derek, of all the times, I am not equipped for this without you.” And it makes me miss the old Derek so much.’
