‘It’s a hard juggling act’
TV star Kate Garraway is very much aware that she’s now the main breadwinner for her family, as she throws herself into work
It may only be February, but Kate Garraway has already had a jam-packed work schedule this year. Along with her hosting duties on both Good Morning Britain and Life Stories, the presenter, 54, has also been putting her time into filming other shows close to her heart.
Early next month, Kate will be fronting a new BBC series titled Your Body Uncovered With Kate Garraway, which will explore the future of medicine. And this week, her follow-up documentary about her husband Derek Draper, Caring For Derek, aired on ITV.
But while in-demand Kate couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities, a source has new told that she’s feeling the pressure as the family’s main source of income.
“Kate is extremely busy with work. Derek is still so poorly and still needs 24-hour care, so Kate needs to work,” our source explained. “Sadly, Derek’s whole career has stopped, so Kate is the breadwinner. She’s the only one bringing in the money. It’s a matter of survival for Kate.”
Caring For Derek charts Derek’s progress following his return home in April last year, after spending 374 days in hospital – including around three months in a medically-induced coma – due to Covid-19.
Since arriving back at the family’s London home, which he shares with Kate and their two children, Darcey, 15, and Billy, 12, political advisor-turnedpsychotherapist Derek has continued to fight the effects of the virus.
Our source added, “Kate loves her work and having her own shows is everything that she’s ever wanted. But Derek is at the back of her mind the whole time. The man she loves is so ill and needs a lot of help. It’s been a very hard time.
“Along with being a carer to Derek, Kate is also a mother to their young children and she’s the breadwinner. It’s a hard juggling act.”
Last week, Kate discussed the struggles Derek, also 54, still faces, revealing he can’t talk as his speech is severely restricted.
“It’s hard. I watch him microscopically,” she said, before adding that he “can’t respond” despite understanding “an enormous amount”.
After her first documentary, Finding Derek, which won a National Television Award, Kate questioned whether she should welcome the cameras back into their lives, admitting, “I’m very protective of Derek.”
But she’s holding her head high and throwing herself into work as “she’s had no other choice”.
Our source continued, “She’s a very strong woman. But it’s also important for her to remember to take some time for herself and not burn the candle at both ends. People think that because she’s on the TV so much and doing all these shows, that life is good.
But it’s still very tough for Kate.”
Opening up about just how difficult the past two years have been, Kate previously said, “I am absolutely shattered all the time, but this is the same story for everybody who’s involved in the care of others.”
She has also admitted feeling lonely, saying, “You just want to share with him the problems, and you just want those little looks he’d give you when the kids were doing something, and because he can’t and you have to keep hoping he can, you’re in a sort of weird, strange kind of vortex of almost bereavement, but grateful that he’s alive.
“It’s a very strange feeling. So it’s a day at a time and trying to keep going and trying to just be really grateful for the people around me that are helping.”