Kate Garraway is stepping back from Good Morning Britain to focus on her family, while husband Derek Draper remains in hospital following his battle with coronavirus.
The TV star returned to the show back in July for the first time since March after her husband contracted the deadly virus and remained in a coma in intensive care for months.
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But on Friday’s show, Kate, 53, is taking a short break next week to support the two children she shares with Derek – Darcey and Billy – as they prepare to return to school following the summer holidays.
She told viewers, “I’m actually not here next week, I’m taking a bit of time off to help Billy get sorted for secondary school, the children, Darcey as well to get into school.
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“Also Derek, look after things on that.”
While it’s time for Kate to take a brief step back following a turbulent few months, she made it clear just how grateful she is for all the ongoing support amid Derek’s health battle.
“I just want to say thanks to all of you for being absolutely brilliant since I’ve come back through challenging times,” she explained. “Everyone here, you, Ben, Adil and all of the people off and on screen have been amazing.
“The nice thing is everyone talks about ITV and television being this brutal business, and it ‘s not, it’s a family and you’ve all been amazing.”
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The star’s husband of 15 years is still in the hospital after contracting coronavirus back in March, but is now able to open his eyes with nurses revealing he even looked “focused”.
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Derek had previously been in a coma, however Kate revealed earlier this month that he had come out of it.
But Kate explained that while Derek is no longer ill with the virus, he may never recover from the damage the disease has done to his body.
“The fight with the virus has been won and he’s still here but it’s wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that,” Kate said, getting teary.
