Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway has admitted she is struggling to cope as a single parent without her husband Derek Draper, who remains in hospital after battling coronavirus.
The TV and radio presenter has been attempting to homeschool their children Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11, while holding down roles on TV and radio.
She said: “I’m not sure I am coping! I honestly don’t know how single mums do it; it’s just so hard.
"A lot of the time I find myself thinking, ‘What would Derek say?’ and ‘What would Derek do?’
"I’m lucky that I’m being supported by lots of friends, too, and Ranvir [Singh from GMB] has been really helpful because she’s been operating as a single mum since her son, Tushaan, was very little.
“I asked her, ‘How do you do it?’ and she said, ‘You just have to accept that you can’t do everything.’”
Speaking to Good Housekeeping, 53-year-old Kate also spoke about her husband's progress.
Derek has been in hospital since March last year when he tested positive for coronavirus. He was later and was admitted to intensive care. He was free of Covid-19 some months later, but is still battling the effects.
She revealed that in November, Derek mouthed his first word in six months and Kate spoke of the importance of hope but also how there was a long road of recovery ahead.
She added: “We’re really hoping we’re on some kind of trajectory of improvement. It’s very much two steps forward, three steps back, but if I think back to where we were in March 2020, when Derek’s lungs were solid with infection and his infection rates were the highest doctors had seen in anyone who has lived, we’re undoubtedly in a more positive place.”
Referring to the last 10 months of her life, which was thrown into disarray by Derek's sudden illness, she says kindness in unexpected places has helped her get through.
Kate said: “That’s been one of the positives of this horrible time, and I’ve found it [kindness] in the most unexpected places. There’s a lovely lady who lives over the road from me and I didn’t know her before all this, but every week she makes a cake for me and the kids.
"Somehow she always knows when we most need a lift!
"We’ve really got to know each other because of it, too, and that’s been lovely.”
As well as speaking in the magazine about Derek and the traumatic year for the family, Kate is also publishing a book titled The Power Of Hope which will be released in April.
She has said the book is about the “ raw and emotional” story of her husband Derek ’s fight against Covid-19 and the “devastating impact” on him and on their family.
Kate is also making an ITV documentary about the family's situation which is expected to screen in March.
Read the full interview with Kate Garraway in the March issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale today (Jan29). It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect.
