Kate Garraway 'overwhelmed' as GMB colleagues rally round her with sweet surprise

Kate Garraway has revealed that she was moved to tears by the overwhelming support she received from her Good Morning Britain colleagues upon her return to work.

The 57-year-old star - who celebrated her birthday on May 4 - returned to the studio on Friday and was touched by the gifts she received from her workmates, including host Susanna Reid, reports the Mirror.

On her return, she co-hosted the show with friend Rob Rinder and was delighted with the presents from her co-stars.

In a heartfelt post on Instagram, an emotional Kate wrote: "The next are three fabulous total surprises - >>> gorgeous chocolates and flowers from @susannareid100, a basket of goodies from the @gmb gang, a fabulous wrap dress literally left on my doorstep as she 'thought I might need cheering up' by my mate @toniabuxton."

She went on to say: "And the last is the most personal and kind embroidered collar- you know how I love my crazy collars! - from @lisamejuto. Lisa is a makeup artist at @gmb and she's gorgeous to everyone and fab at her job and we've laughed our heads off together over the years."

"But today when she gave me this out of the blue at 4 in the morning I burst into tears. The hard work and effort - carefully hand-sewing symbols that she knows mean so much - including Darcey, Bill and Derek's initials, shows so much painstaking love. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Am now lying in bed feeling like the luckiest person in the world to have so many good people around me."

Kate celebrated her first birthday earlier this month without her husband present, marking the occasion with a garden lunch alongside close friends and her two children, Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14.

She took to social media to document the day, saying: "Well yesterday was another one of those sad 1st's - my first birthday since Derek's passing."

She added: "Woke up feeling so sad and thought well I can either cry all day or celebrate life as he did so well. And thanks to wonderful friends it worked! See you tomorrow from 6 - happy bank holiday weekend everyone!"

The television presenter has been noticeably absent from her duties after tragically losing her beloved husband Derek Draper in January, following his gruelling battle with COVID-19 complications.

She missed her presenting commitments twice in March and also earlier this month.

Kate has opened up about the financial struggles she's faced since Derek's passing, disclosing a staggering £800k debt incurred from his care costs.

She shared her plight: "Derek's care costs more than my salary from ITV and that is before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids, so we are at a crunch point."

"I am in debt. I can't earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek's care and I can't even use the money I do have to support Derek's recovery, because it's going on the basics all the time."

Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.