Kate Garraway is best known as the host of ITV daytime show Good Morning Britain and appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2019, but outside of work, she's been happily married to her husband Derek Draper for over 15 years.
Kate and Derek's family life was turned upside down last year when he contracted coronavirus and was later hospitalised for twelve months, one of the longest Covid battles on record in the UK.
Derek is now back at home with Kate and their children, although he has still not made a full recovery. Here is everything you need to know about him including his battle against the virus and his home life with Kate.
Who is Derek Draper?
Derek Draper, 53, is a former political advisor from Chorley, Lancashire. He was a political aide to former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson and found himself at the centre of the “Lobbygate” scandal in 1998 when he reportedly said, “There are 17 people who count in this government ... [to] say I am intimate with every one of them is the understatement of the century." Although he denies any wrongdoing, Derek resigned from his role as a lobbyist at the time.
Following this, Derek retrained as a psychotherapist in California and obtained a degree after three years. He also spent time in the late 90s as Political Editor of the Modern Review, a columnist for the Daily Express and a presenter on Talk Radio UK.
Derek became the founder and editor of the blog LabourList in 2009 but stepped down as editor after another scandal involving leaked emails from Gordon Brown's special adviser, Damian McBride, which proposed using the blog to smear senior Conservative MPs and their spouses.
He is also the husband of Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway.
When did Derek Draper and Kate Garraway get married?
Kate Garraway and her husband Derek Draper first met in 2004 when they were introduced by a mutual friend, former GMTV political editor Gloria Del Piero. Although Kate admitted she initially wasn’t interested in Derek, their relationship later blossomed.
Kate and Derek married in 2005, just a year after they began dating, in an intimate ceremony at St Mary’s Parish Club in Chorley.
Speaking about their wedding, Kate revealed that Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole was a surprise guest after teaching Derek how to dance. “Hilariously, Brendan Cole was at the wedding, years before I did Strictly Come Dancing. I assumed he was someone’s boyfriend, but Derek had secretly been having dancing lessons with him. Derek is like that: when he wants to learn something, he studies it until he can do it perfectly,” she told The Times.
Have Derek Draper and Kate Garraway renewed their vows?
Kate and Derek had planned to renew their wedding vows following her stint in the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! jungle but he unfortunately contracted coronavirus before they were able to go through with it.
“We’d planned the wedding for the end of summer, but I don’t suppose we’ll be booking anything now because we don’t really know what we can do. The wedding is something wonderful to look forward to when this is all over. That’s what we’re trying to do – think of all the good things,” she told Fabulous magazine last year.
Who was Kate Garraway married to before Derek Draper?
Kate was previously married to journalist Ian Rumsey between 1998 and 2002. Following their split, she was forced to deny he had been unfaithful.
She said in a statement, “It’s always terribly sad when a marriage comes to an end. I’m disappointed that what’s a very private matter has been brought into the public domain.
“I was dismayed by reports in the papers because they are substantially inaccurate.”
CHECK OUT celebs you forgot got engaged
Celebs you forgot got engaged - slider
1 of 13Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik
Cast your mind back to 2013 when One Direction was very much a thing and Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards were ENGAGED. The 1D star proposed but things ended two years later following reports that he dumped her via text - although he denied the rumours.
2 of 13Michelle Keegan and Max George
Long before Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright became one of the richest young couples on television, she got engaged to The Wanted's Max George. However it didn't last and he has since revealed that he had a "serious drinking problem" that caused their break up.
3 of 13Jesy Nelson and Jake Roche
Remember when Jesy Nelson and Loose Women's Coleen Nolan were almost related? Throwback to 2015 when The Rixton's Jake Roche popped the question at a Little Mix gig? Unfortunately it wasn't to be and they split a year later.
4 of 13Jon Clark and Hannah
Love Island's Jon Clark and Hannah Elizabeth were an OG couple from the 2015 series and they even got engaged on the show. Fast forward a few months and they split.
5 of 13Georgia Steel and Callum Izzard
Yeah we're still a little confused about this one; they were apparently engaged after one month of dating following their time on Ex on the Peak but they never publicly confirmed it and have since apparently split.
6 of 13Lauren Goodger and Mark Wright
They were the turbulent couple on TOWIE back in 2010 and despite Mark's playboy ways he popped the question to Lozza and we even saw his emotional speech on TV. Unfortunately it didn't last and five months later they called quits on their 11 year relationship.
7 of 13Emma Bunton and Jade Jones
Emma and Jade have been engaged since January 2011 but have been in no rush to make it down the aisle. There were reports that they were going to get married in 2019 but we're yet to hear an update…
8 of 13Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone
Another couple to get engaged on TOWIE were Lucy Mecklenburgh and Mario Falcone. However just like the rest of them, they didn't last and Mario has since spoken out and said his proposal to Lucy "wasn't real". Riiiight.
9 of 13Vicky Pattison and John Noble
Vicky Pattison was left devastated after photos of her fiancé John Noble surfaced of him getting up close and personal with another woman. Safe to say their engagement didn't go ahead and she was forced to change her wedding reality show so that it focused on their split instead.
10 of 13Vicky Pattison and Ricci Guarnaccio
OG Geordie Shore fans will remember Vicky and Ricci Guarnaccio's turbulent relationship and how they got engaged shortly after a row. However they called it quits and Vicky has since described their relationship as "hell".
11 of 13Faye Brookes and Gareth Gates
They were together for seven years and even got engaged (with a 17 minute long song) but things shortly came to an abrupt end with Faye Brookes and Gareth Gates.
12 of 13Gemma Collins and Rami Hawash
Back in 2013 Gemma Collins got engaged to Rami Hawash after he proposed by sticking her ring in a Christmas pudding. The perfect kind of proposal, tbh. It's pretty obvious that things didn't last because The GC has been in an on/off relationship with James Argent ever since.
13 of 13Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson
Throwback to when Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson got engaged just weeks after they began dating. Things seemed serious (she even named a song after him) but they called it quits four months later.
Do Derek Draper and Kate Garraway have children?
Derek and Kate are parents to 15-year-old daughter, Darcey, and 11-year-old son William, who is known as Billy.
How was long was Derek Draper in a coma for?
Derek fell ill with coronavirus in April 2020 and was later hospitalised. The illness caused heart, kidney and lung failure, which meant he had to be placed in a medically-induced coma for four months. Thankfully, he tested negative for coronavirus in June 2020.
The emotional moment he woke from his coma was documented in Kate’s documentary Finding Derek in March 2021. “He's back,” says Kate. “We've been waiting a long time to speak to you. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you.”
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Has Derek Draper recovered from coronavirus?
While Derek returned home from hospital in April 2021, he still hasn’t fully recovered and requires around the clock care and assistance.
"It does feel a little bit like the hospital has come home with me at the moment, as we’ve got all sorts of professional people making sure everything is safe and then see how being in the family environment could help,” Kate said on Good Morning Britain.
Speaking about the moment Derek returned home, she continued, “As we pulled up, I could see two little faces of Darcey and Billy looking out the window and I could see Billy literally say 'He's here!' and they sort of ran out and ran forward.
“He immediately burst into tears, there was a lot of hugging and got him inside. He absolutely knew he was home."
What is the latest update on Derek Draper?
Derek’s condition is slowly but surely improving, although Kate recently admitted that their family life will never be the same.
She said, “I don't know what our family life will be, I hope that it can be with Derek in the home. I hope that we can continue caring for him in the home, I hope that's best for him as it feels like it is right now.
“I hope that he will find a way and we will help him to find a way to be more present. I mean he is a dominating person, but he's going to be changed. I mean, at the very least, he is going to be traumatised, and at the worst, he may never change from this, although I have to check myself, that isn't the worst because he's still here.”