Kate Garraway in tears before going on air upon return to Good Morning Britain (2024)

Good Morning Britain viewers were delighted to see Kate Garraway return to her hosting duties this morning after an extended break from the ITV show following the death of her husband, Derek Draper

Kate Garraway confessed that she was in floods of tears before even going on air upon her long-awaited return to Good Morning Britain this morning.

The TV presenter, 56, revealed earlier this week that she would finally be returning to her hosting duties after laying husband Derek Draper to rest last Friday. Upon her return this morning, Kate was welcomed back to the show by her co-star Ben Shephard who gushed over finally having his friend and colleague back by his side.

Mum-of-two Kate revealed that she felt 'so nervous' to be back on the show, and admitted that she might be a bit 'wobbly' while presenting alongside Ben. Kate told Ben that she had an excuse to be incompetent as she was welcomed back on her first day back - and Ben quickly reassured her that she had every right to feel nervous.

Kate revealed that upon her return to the ITV studios this morning, she was left in floods of tears after reuniting with the glam team who did her makeup. Kate said that it was lovely, but “odd” to be back at the desk. “The make-up girls had me in tears this morning just by saying hello,” she said at the beginning of the programme. “Thank you to all of you at home as well, I know I mentioned it on Monday but you have been incredible.”

Co-host Ben joked he would give Kate a bit of 'leeway' before saying she did her husband proud with the 'extraordinary funeral'. “You really did Derek proud, it was an extraordinary thing,” he said. To which Kate replied: “I definitely wanted to make it about Derek not about me. It was really lovely as well to feel so much love from everybody here.”

Mum-of-two Kate made an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, where she spoke about her late husband following his funeral last week. Kate confirmed she will return to the desk on the ITV morning show on Thursday and joked: “I’m going to be looking forward to a blow dry.”

Before her return, she said she would also be cracking out the fake eyelashes and fake tan, adding: “Don’t worry – I am going to be looking a lot more respectable.” She went on: “I am looking forward to coming into the world and connecting with everyone again. Thank you for having me back but have a little patience, I might be a bit rusty. I think there is a new king. Have I caught up with that?”

The broadcaster took an extended period of leave from the ITV morning programme after the late political lobbyist went into cardiac arrest over the Christmas period. But just days after his funeral, Kate appeared on the programme via video link ahead of her full-time return to the show today.

During her interview, Kate went on to reveal that King Charles and Princess Catherine had written letters of support to her, while saying that David and Victoria Beckham had also gotten in touch with her and her family. During her chat, Kate opened up about the moment when she and her family were informed that Derek's health had reached a point, which he sadly wouldn't return from.

"It was one of those 'stop the clock' moments, where you want the world to stop," she said, before going on to add: "And I think the vacuum you feel at that point, having been entirely focused for four years on: what do I need to do next? What can I do for Derek, what's happening with the children? All of that, it swamps you.

"Thinking: right, we have what we were told was 24 hours, and turned out to be more than a month of him fighting on and fighting on even though the prognosis was, this is one he won't make through. And that's a challenge, because for the children, when they heard the doctors say he won’t survive this, they’ve heard that so many times.

"We knew Derek could still hear even though he couldn’t open his eyes, so it was a challenge to make sure he knew that he wasn't letting us down, because he couldn't get through this last one." But while some have questioned Kate's decision to return to work less than a week after his funeral, she had her reasoning.

"A new life starts now. I don't quite know how it's gonna be. But grief isn't containable in a day or a month or a year," she said.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.