Kate Garraway Breaks Silence on ‘Strange’ First Date After Husband Derek Draper’s Tragic Death
Kate Garraway has shared a sweet and slightly chaotic story about her very first date with her late husband, Derek Draper – and it’s not quite the romantic evening she had in mind. Looking back on their early days together, Kate revealed how what was meant to be a glitzy night out ended up being something completely different.
Speaking to fellow Smooth Radio host Jenni Falconer, Kate said she had high hopes for her first proper date with Derek. She’d heard all the buzz about his charm and how he’d hold court at The Groucho Club, so naturally, she expected something along those lines. “I had a full blow dry, fake tan, got myself sorted,” she laughed. But just 45 minutes before they were supposed to meet, Derek cancelled, Bristol Live reports.
His reason? Well, it was unexpectedly wholesome. Kate recalled him saying, “I’m so sorry, I’ve completely mucked up, I’ve forgotten that I’m hosting, I’m serving cheese and wine at my local church’s amateur watercolour exhibition.”
At first, Kate thought it was a joke – surely he had something up his sleeve? “I said, ‘OK, I will,’ thinking… there’ll be a helicopter to Paris or a car to a luxury restaurant or something,” she admitted, reported the Daily Record.
But no, there was no surprise twist. When she turned up, Derek really was there, handing out cheese and wine to a group of elderly amateur painters. And funnily enough, that quirky first date turned out to be one she’d never forget. “It was lovely, actually, because it was totally different from some of the stories I’d heard about him from before,” she said.
After splitting from her first husband, Ian Rumsey, Kate met Derek, and their connection quickly grew. The pair married in 2005, welcomed their daughter Darcey a year later, and their son Billy in 2009.
The couple’s life took a heartbreaking turn when Derek fell seriously ill after contracting COVID-19 in 2020. Despite fighting through years of health complications, he sadly passed away in January this year at the age of 54, following a heart attack in December 2023.
Kate is now navigating life as a single mum, juggling family life with her busy presenting schedule. Recently, she’s also been back on our screens competing on The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer alongside Phil Wang, Gbemisola Ikumelo, and Sophie Willan. According to the latest Betway odds, Sophie’s tipped as the favourite to win at 6/4 – but Kate’s not far behind at 5/2.