Kate Garraway confirms Derek Draper ‘back in hospital’ ahead of Christmas

Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway has delivered an update on husband Derek Draper's health, revealing that he's in hospital for treatment ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The 56-year-old presenter is hosting Christmas at her house this year, telling OK! that she booked Derek in for some routine medical appointments in the hopes that his condition will improve.

Derek, a former New Labour spin doctor turned psychotherapist, has been battling health issues since he contracted Covid in March 2020 and requires constant care after spending a year in hospital fighting for his life.

"Derek's in hospital having some treatment," Kate said. "It's not an emergency thing, it's not a dramatic rush back into intensive care thank goodness it's something that started last year that we hope will lead to improvement.]

"I've managed to get it in before the end of the year. It's something we were trying to do in the summer but you know there are referrals and time and all of those things."

The devastating complications of COVID have robbed Derek of his mobility, with the former political advisor now wheelchair-bound and suffering with communication difficulties. However, Kate is ever hopeful that his condition will improve.

"Every day we wait and see," the Good Morning Britain star said. "There isn't a dramatic improvement, but touch wood things haven't gone backwards either. So we're adjusting to a new normal."

The new normal at Christmas for Kate, who married Derek in 2005, means hosting her family and in-laws for the holidays at the couple's north London home. "It's a practical solution because it's quite challenging for Derek to travel," said Kate. "So it's easier for people to come to us, which means they have to suffer my cooking!"

Kate married Derek in 2005, with the couple sharing two children together – Darcey, 17, and William, 14.

The Good Morning Britain star joined co-anchor Ben Shephard to promote the show's 1 Million Minutes campaign, which encourages viewers to viewers to pledge their time to fight loneliness.

"We started with an ambition of one million minutes and I remember Ben and I going, 'What if we don't reach it? It's going to be terribly disappointing.' But it just went through the roof," Kate said.

"The thing that Kate and I have come to understand is that there is nothing more valuable than time," Ben Shephard told OK! . "And during a cost-of-living crisis, when people are stretched anyway, the fact that people will donate their time – which is infinitely more valuable than money – to help with loneliness with various groups that we support is incredibly compelling and really rewarding."

Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes campaign runs throughout December, asking viewers to pledge their time to help fight loneliness.

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