Kate Garraway says ‘care is going to give Derek his life back’ in honest update on husband’s health

22 February 2022, 12:02 | Updated: 28 February 2022, 12:31

Watch Kate Garraway's full interview with Angie Greaves

Kate Garraway has spoken to Smooth Radio's Angie Greaves about her new documentary Caring For Derek.

Smooth Radio presenter Kate Garraway has opened up to Angie Greaves about her new documentary Caring For Derek.

The ITV special follows Kate and her children, Darcey and Billy, as they navigate through the challenges of Derek’s Covid diagnosis.

The couple have been married for 16 years, but when Derek caught coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic, Kate became his carer.

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The presenter has admitted she found it hard to adjust, telling Angie: “It’s the most extraordinary thing emotionally when you’re adjusting to a new role, for me as a carer and Derek as someone who is being cared for.

“You find yourself in a world that you never expect to experience. It is different and I feel very undervalued.”

Kate continued: “It’s care that’s going to give him his life back.

“Care means something different from inside the hospital than it does when you’re out.

“Outside we think of care as somebody in a supportive role without being given the respect needed. It involves exploring what needs to be done.”

Caring for Derek sees the family welcome Derek back into their home in April 2021 and the build-up to Christmas 2021.

It follows on from the first documentary Finding Derek which saw Kate trying to keep her family and career together while Derek was critically ill in hospital.

Opening up about her new show, Kate said: “I wanted to make sure there was still stuff to say.

“I think what this one does in a rather brutal way, it’s the challenge of a big live event and the ripples that go through a family and what Covid does and how people have to pick their lives up.

“Every day people are going to experience a diagnosis of an illness, or something will happen to them that turns life on its head and it’s how to navigate that which is often very hard I think.”

Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek is on ITV1 tonight at 9pm.