Kate’s close pal Clare: “She prays for Derek every day – she’s the strongest person I know”
As her heartache over husband Derek’s battle with coronavirus continues, Kate Garraway’s friend, TV presenter Clare Nasir, tells Closer how her strength and resilience have helped pull her through
She’s become one of the nation’s favourite presenters as the bubbly star of breakfast TV, and won over a whole new set of fans last year as a loveable campmate in the I’m A Celeb! jungle. But 2020 has been devastating for Kate Garraway and her young family, as her husband Derek has fought for his life during a tortuous sixmonth battle with coronavirus.
Derek, 53, was rushed into hospital with COVID-19 in March and, after struggling badly, was put into intensive care days later where he remains in a critical condition – with doctors still uncertain as to whether he’ll ever fully recover.
Agonisingly, Kate, also 53, revealed last week how she’d only seen her husband – reportedly one of only five people in the world to have been so badly affected by the virus – in person twice since he’d been admitted.
But despite her unimaginable suffering, Kate has remained remarkably positive throughout. She returned to her job presenting on GMB in July and has provided strength and support as she parents the couple’s two children, Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11.
Now TV star and weather presenter Clare Nasir tells Closer that she’s in awe of her best friend Kate – and movingly reveals how she’s held her family together through their toughest time. Clare, 50, says, “It’s been a nightmare year for Kate, but I’m so incredibly proud of her. I’ve known her since the nineties, after we met on GMTV, and over the years I’ve lived with her, lived next door to her and she’s godmother to my children.
AN INSPIRATION
“She’s the strongest person I know. She’s always been so resilient and she has this steeliness about her, throughout all the problems life has thrown at her. She’s just an absolute inspiration – working, being Mum and going through all this.
“I’m on the phone to her all the time and we talk a lot, but the thing with Kate is that she’s not a crier and rarely breaks down. It’s not that she’s keeping it all in; she’s just incredibly practical and is channelling her energy into researching Derek’s condition, in her amazing journalistic way, and being an amazing mum to her kids.”
Poignantly, this month marks Kate and former political lobbyist and psychotherapist Derek’s 15th wedding anniversary, with the couple getting together in 2004 after being set up by a mutual friend .
After falling pregnant with their first child Darcey in 2005, the couple got married later that year, before welcoming Billy four years later. And after Derek said he was “incredibly proud” of his wife during her stint on I’m A Celeb!, Kate revealed that he proposed again to her when she got back to the UK – and heartbreakingly, the couple had been planning to renew their vows this summer. Last week, Kate teared up on GMB as she explained doctors had told her she couldn’t see Derek on their anniversary – but later revealed she’d raised a glass to him over FaceTime. While Derek, who has lost 8st during his battle, has shown signs of consciousness in recent weeks – occasionally opening his eyes – Kate has no idea whether he’ll recover further.
She explained recently, “We hope
and believe he will come out of it, but we just don’t know. The heart of the family has been ripped out and we don’t know if we will ever get it back.”
Clare says the couple are a brilliant team – both in terms of how much they “get” each other, and as parents. She says, “Kate and Derek just do everything together – they are on the same intellectual level and are extremely supportive of each other, especially in terms of their gruelling schedules. They’re like ying and yang – while Kate is more of an adventurer and thrill-seeker, Derek would be happier reading a book. But that’s what makes them complement each other so well when it comes to parenting.”
Kate revealed last week that she’d used humour to help her deal with the family crisis as light-hearted Derek would want her to. She said, “Derek is a massive believer in silliness. I remember once, we’d missed a flight and he was making all these jokes, and I was like, ‘It’s not funny!’ and he said, ‘You’ve got to laugh at it, so you can deal with it.’ You need it to get through.” And Clare says that Kate has managed to keep her optimism throughout it all, and has also used spirituality as a means of coping.
SPIRITUAL
Clare says, “She has managed to keep smiling and keep her humour – she’s always been self-deprecating and so funny. She’s been able to smile through it all and keep a positive front, both in her home life and presenting at work. Spirituality has also really helped her. She’s always been a very spiritual person, but this has brought it out of her – praying for Derek every day, and trying to keep everybody’s focus on him, sending positive vibes.”
Clare adds that Kate’s children have also been inspirational throughout the ordeal – with daughter Darcey developing the same resilience as her mum.
She says, “Kate’s had to deal with a lot of things that one-parent families have to deal with and adapt to it quickly – under the added cloud of not knowing where her future lies. They are such a close-knit family and it’s been so heartbreaking to see. Her children are amazing – Darcey has grown up a lot recently, and she’s blossomed into an incredible teenager, with just so much inner strength, just like her mum. We can only hope for the best for them all.” By Lily Smith
‘She’s been able to smile & keep a positive
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