Kate Garraway and her husband Derek Draper reportedly recieved a special shoutout when they enjoyed a rare night out at an Elton John gig. The iconic singer is currently wowing tens of thousands of fans each night with a string of shows at London's O2 arena on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
And during a recent show in the capital on his last ever tour, which has been delayed due to health issues as Sir Elton was set to conclude the tour in 2021, the 76-year-old told fans in the crowd that Good Morning Britain star Kate and her husband Derek had endured "really tough times" following Derek's Covid ordeal which began in early 2020.
The former political advisor was struck down with the virus and quickly became critically ill and he is believed to be the worst-affected living Covid patient in the UK after spending 13 months in hospital between March 2020 and April 2021.
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Last month, Kate gave an update on her family life as well as Derek's progress as he continues to battle the devastating effects contracting coronavirus had on his body. The TV and radio star said: "It is challenging, he's still very, very damaged. He still can't really move, still can’t really speak, still fed through tubes, and so there's a long road ahead."
Reportedly speaking at his gig, The Sun reports Sir Elton to have said of the couple: "They’re inspiring. They’ve never given up and I’m so thrilled they’re here, I can’t believe they are here." He added: "I want to dedicate this song to the people I mentioned before, but especially to you guys."
The publication reports that Kate and Derek, both 55, travelled from their North London home to the O2 in East London with children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 13. Richard Arnold also confirmed on GMB on Tuesday (April 18) that Sir Elton sang Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me for the couple.
It comes after Kate previously revealed how she played Sir Elton's music to Derek in hospital and how the Rocketman hitmaker also reached out to her. She said on GMB at the time: “Elton John contacted me. It was so strange. I was like, ‘Elton… John?’ We do have a mutual friend, which I didn’t know about. And because of all the work he does with the Aids Foundation he was like, ‘What can I do to help? I know a bit about antiviral stuff. And I’m on board. I’ll try to help.' He’s incredible."
Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on her Walt Disney Travel Company podcast Journey To The Magic, last month, Kate revealed the last thing she did with Derek before he got really ill, saying the family went on a trip to Disneyland. "We went to Disneyland Paris, and I remember as we headed back to get on the train under the tunnel we went into a pharmacy to get some paracetamol or something and everywhere in French it said ‘no masks all sold out'," she said.
"I remember Derek and I saying to each other, ‘God they’re taking it really seriously over here’ and then we came back and it was literally about two or three weeks later Derek got sick and so it was the last thing we did together,” she added. Kate then revealed that the family returned to Disneyland recently, but Derek was unable to go with them on the 'morning of' the trip. Kate and the couple's children Billy and Darcey still went on the trip and were joined by her friend Vicky.
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