'Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek' - Celebrity friends and fans praise 'inspiring, strong' TV star

Katie Archer
·Contributor
·3-min read
Kate Garraway's latest documentary was moving for many of her friends and fans. (ITV)
Kate Garraway's latest documentary was moving for many of her friends and fans. (ITV)

Kate Garraway's celebrity friends and fans have been offering their encouragement and praise for her after seeing heartbreaking documentary Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek.

The Good Morning Britain and Life Stories star won awards last year for her ITV documentary Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, which detailed husband Derek Draper's year-long stay in hospital battling COVID.

Read more: All you need to know about Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek

Last night, she invited the cameras back in to show what life had been like for them since he finally returned home last spring, bringing viewers to tears with the emotion of seeing their children welcome him back and the huge amount of caring work that Garraway now does.

Her GMB co-star and friend Ben Shephard, who appeared in the documentary offering his support, tweeted: "I don’t have the words to describe how proud + inspired I am by my wonderful friend @kategarraway Its such a tough personal story but one she’s sharing for those that don’t have the voice. I am so lucky to call her a friend, even if I have to endlessly tidy up after her."

EMBARGOED PICTURE: FOR PUBLICATION ON TUESDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2022 From Flicker Productions KATE GARRAWAY: CARING FOR DEREK Thursday 24th February 2022 on ITV Pictured: Derek Draper lying in bed at his London home In 2020 Kate Garraway and her family wanted nothing more than to get her husband Derek back home. Little did she know what the reality of this meant. Caring for Derek is the follow up to the award-winning ITV film Finding Derek, shown in Spring 2021, which charted how Derek Draper's family coped while he was critically ill in hospital with Covid-19. This time weÕre with Kate and the family from the first moments Derek arrives home in April, and in the build-up to Christmas 2021 - a period of considerable upheaval and uncertainty. Caring for Derek is honest, unflinching and doesnÕt sugar coat the reality of being a carer as we see Kate tell the camera ÔWe have to make this real as this is the reality of life for people who are caring, and itÕs not prettyÕ We follow Kate as she navigates the myriad challenges of the social care system and its complexities that seem to be built in. This comes at a time when the debate about social care is at its loudest, and this film quietly shows the reality of what day to day life is like becoming a carer. Whereas Finding Derek reflected DerekÕs absence from the family home, this new film captures his return and how that has restored some hope for Kate and her children without shying away from what the challenges of the new normal might be and the impact it has on everyone involved. Mirroring the lives of carers across the country, we also see Kate getting support from family and friends including DerekÕs sister, Di, who helps her with some of the day-to-day duties and believes ÔyouÕve just got to celebrate the good daysÓ. And she catches up with old friends Bobby and Julie, whose situation has parallels with her own, to find out how theyÕre coping, sharing the hardship of no longer being just a wife but also a carer Above all, this film follows Kate as she embarks on a new chapter in her marriage and family life, attempting to find a new way of living and a new way of loving, like millions of families across the country in the very same boat. Every year, countless Britons undergo the kind of seismic shift in circumstances that Kate and her family are dealing with Ð a life-changing injury or illness striking one person that has repercussions for every member of the family. But the often more complicated tales of what happened next and the painstaking road to recovery remain largely untold. Until now. (C) ITV Photographer : Harry Page For further information please contact Peter Gray Mob 07831460662 / peter.gray@itv.com This photograph is (C) ITV and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme. KATE GARRAWAY CARING FOR DEREK or ITV. Once made available by the ITV Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the Transmission date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itvpictures.com
The documentary showed Derek Draper's return home from hospital, where he had been for more than a year. (ITV)

Author Michael Rosen, who was in hospital with COVID just a couple of beds away from Draper and has been interviewed by Garraway on GMB, replied to Shephard: "Don’t know how Kate and you, as her friend, manage to interview me, given that I was two beds down from Derek for 48 days, and have come out of there relatively unscathed. It’s felt when I’ve been on the programme, like I’m rubbing salt in the wound."

Carol Vorderman tweeted: "Just watched Caring For Derek. What a wonderful human being our @kategarraway is, and has always been. I hope the treatment works and life improves for Derek and their lovely family."

Read more: Kate Garraway reveals Derek's secret trip to Mexico for treatment

Emmerdale star Lisa Riley added: "Wow😥 @kategarraway @itv YOU…….your family,strength beyond strength. #CaringForDerek you see the smallest changes,these keep you going💛the love you have for each other😥they broke the mould when they made you…the world NEEDS MORE KATE GARRAWAYS."

ITV newsreader Lucrezia Millarini wrote: "Watching #CaringForDerek. What an amazing, strong and lovely human @kategarraway is."

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway attend the National Television Awards 2021 at The O2 Arena on September 09, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Kate Garraway's friend and colleague Ben Shephard has been supporting her. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Many of Garraway's non-celebrity fans also offered their admiration for her.

One person tweeted: "No fakery, no show home, no holds barred. Just raw, honest, heartbreaking, admirable & compelling viewing from @kategarraway #caringforderek @ITV What a truly remarkable family."

Viewers shared their own stories, with one person writing: "Know the challenges so well as my brother had covid nearly two years ago and now in 24 hour care wish his story could get out there to as so many are suffering I feel for you so much xx"

Kate Garraway and husband Derek Draper, pictured in 2009. (Jon Furniss/WireImage)
Kate Garraway and husband Derek Draper, pictured in 2009. (WireImage)

Someone else added: "As a carer, in various ways I can tell you that what #KateGarraway has done and is doing is absolutely amazing. What a lovely, strong woman."

Another viewer tweeted: "I have nothing but respect for Kate Garraway. Caring is not easy. I have been caring for a severely brain damaged child for 43 and a half years 24/7 No one who is in not in that role has any idea what it is like so thank you Kate for showing the life of a carer. It is not easy."

Watch: Kate Garraway shows the reality of caring for husband Derek Draper

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories