Kate Garraway's Good Morning Britain absence explained as viewers are puzzled by her 'replacement'

Kate Garraway was notably absent from Good Morning Britain, leaving viewers puzzled by her absence as she was "replaced" on the ITV show.

As the regular host of the Thursday slot, Kate was expected to be on the screen or at least be presenting the news which is the role she takes on when Susanna Reid is anchoring.

However, as the show commenced, it became clear that the 56-year-old was not going to appear as Richard Madeley and Charlotte Hawkins took the helm, with Marverine Cole stepping in as the newsreader.

Kate's absence has now been explained by an ITV spokesperson who told The Sun that the mum-of-two is taking two days of annual leave after working on GMB for five days last week, the Express reports.

The GMB host sadly lost her husband Derek Draper earlier this year and shared his poignant journey in a deeply moving TV documentary that recently premiered on ITV, capturing his challenging final days before his death.

Reflecting on her response to the documentary, Kate shared: "I couldn't really speak for about an hour after that, it was sort of a humour reaction. I couldn't really speak, I was overwhelmed, it was raw."

Expressing her personal grief, she continued: "Things that jumped out at me were the unbelievable frustration of seeing how well he was doing, how much progress he'd made, for him to struggle so hard and he fought for so long... That's just a personal sadness for me."

Kate insisted on airing the documentary in honour of the healthcare workers who did all they could to support her late husband.

Acknowledging their incredible efforts, she said: "I thought about the hundreds of specialists, nurses doctors, carers who had put so much of their own time to make things better for Derek and everybody. These four years had purpose, they were precious. It's not pointless. Life is life."

Kate has called for the government to offer more support to those who require long-term care.

The mum-of-two had been caring for her husband, Derek Draper, since he was first hospitalised with Covid-19 in March 2020.

Derek needed round-the-clock care due to the lasting side effects of the virus which placed a significant financial strain on the family.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain at the time, Kate shared: "If it is like this for me, what is it like for everybody else?

"Time and time again, the system tells us that Derek isn't sick enough, doesn't have enough of a health need to qualify for funded care.

"I've appealed but that still hasn't been processed two-and-a-half, three years later.

"If this is what it's like for me, what on Earth is it like for everybody else? Something has to be done, or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break."

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