KATE GARRAWAY. DEREKS STORY. TUE 26 March - ITV 9pm

[Blondeshavemorefun]

This will be a real tear jerker

i watched the two previous programmes she and Derek did

this is the final year of Derek life and told in his words

Kate Garraway (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tagged/kate-garraway/) will front a new ITV programme documenting the last year of her late husband Derek Draper’s (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tagged/derek%20draper/) life: Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
The Good Morning Britain (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tagged/good-morning-britain/) star’s husband died in January (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/derek-draper-tributes-kate-garraway-husband-covid-123921217.html)
after his battle with COVID.

She previously made two programmes about his health struggles — Finding Derek and Caring For Derek — and will now share his final chapter which will air on ITV on 26 March.

The film starts in May 2023 and looks at the final year of Draper’s life, including both sweet family moments and an insight into his health battle.

But it also looks back and reflects on his life before he contracted COVID in 2020, including his career as a political adviser, his romance with TV star Garraway — who he has two children with — and how Draper’s illness changed their relationship while they maintained their close bond.

The film also highlights the challenges faced by those living with serious illness and disability and those who care for them and will feature contributions from Draper’s carer Jake.

The programme is set to air in just a few days, close to three months after Draper died at the age of 56.

It will be on ITV at 9pm on Tuesday 26 March.
Documentary was Derek Draper’s idea
Garraway has said that she hadn’t planned to make a third documentary but that the idea came from her husband.

Obviously when we started making this documentary early last year, we had no idea the events that would unfold that ultimately took Derek from us,” she said. “And in January 2024, after he had passed, I wondered if it was right that it should ever come to air.

"But I didn’t want to let those who have given us so much support over the last four years down, and the carers paid and unpaid who in their thousands of letters to me, feel Derek’s story has given them a voice. Also, I remember so vividly that the idea of making this third documentary at all came from Derek himself.”

She went on: “At the beginning of January 2023, he’d been released from a four month spell in hospital for sepsis and we were very positive about his recovery. Derek was determined to keep on getting better and improving.

One day, we were sitting together while I was caring for him and he suddenly, from nowhere, asked, ‘Are we making another documentary?’ I said, ‘Well I hadn’t really planned to. Were you thinking that you would like to?’ And he said firmly, 'Yes'."

The presenter said she told Draper it should be his story, in his voice, explaining: "Derek got very emotional at the idea, because his words and speech were so limited and there were so many things he wanted to say about the struggle we were all having as a family and he wanted to speak up about it."

When she asked Draper what his main message was, he replied: "Never give up fighting for what you believe in and for the people you love."
“We had to find a way of allowing Derek’s voice to be heard and while having to finish it without him has been so hard, I am delighted that the film is a tribute to Derek and his incredible spirit,” she added.

I haven't seen the programme and not planning to watch it like others have said it makes me uncomfortable and seems very intrusive and I do hope Kate in time when she is less consumed by the horror and trauma of the past number of years doesn't regret doing it. I also hope her children don't resent her for it, I think I would if it was my mum and dad.

In relation to her debt the daily mail (sorry) is reporting that she actually has a 2nd home in London worth about 1.5million which she has not revealed previously. Surely if she sells that it would clear a lot of her debt?

I’ve just watched it and have seen the previous ones too. Although they made an effort to show him giving consent it’s clear his mental capacity most likely wasn’t fully comprehending it. Either that or he was coached what to say as the one word answers were not indicative of someone understanding what they were agreeing to.

I feel sorry for the family but the entire series has been massively exploitative of Derek. At least now he can rest in peace and his family can move on with their lives.

I didn’t watch it as it seemed mawkish, but I went into the office today and my team were talking about it. The consensus was, sad as it was for Derek, Kate has rinsed this to the max and he was shown in an undignified light.

Not one person said anything positive about her choice to monetise his decline and death.

Do you know what? Derek Draper was an absolute shit. And behaved in incredibly shitty ways to many, many people.

But even so, I don't believe he deserved this lack of dignity. This manipulation. This exploitation. I can find no karma in it. He didn't deserve it.

And now it's been revealed that she has a second London home worth £1.7 million. Funny that wasn't mentioned in the documentary either.... she's a bit neglectful with the details is Kate.

And she cant afford heating. She must think the public are mugs for swallowing this poverty twaddle.

The house has a charge on it apparently, for a loan which enabled them to buy their current home. And has tenants iirc. She's not stupid - if selling it would have paid for everything, she would probably have done so. But if it has debt loaded against it then not much point in selling if she can try to clear the debt another way.

Gosh.A second home she forgot.

Tenants which would be paying rent. Monthly income. In London. So at least £3k a month at least, if not more.

Come off it.

Have I read right that her and derek had companies that went bust owing thousands in tax?

To be fair she has always said that herself and I think Ben Shepard said the house stresses him out

Some people just aren't neat freaks

@Runnerduck34 it said at end of programme that Jake wasn't in caring anymore and taking a break

Do you know what? Derek Draper was an absolute shit. And behaved in incredibly shitty ways to many, many people.

It's interesting you say that. Did you know him or work with him? In the clips they showed he didn't come across as a pleasant or likeable guy and throughout his illness I never heard one person say what a great colleague he was, how fun or loyal or kind or anything other than 'He was very good at what he did'.

She has a bloody second house worth 1.7 million and another that she lives in worth 4 million.

God people are so stupid and willingly blind to this woman's cries of poverty. Absolutely sickening.

He was a well known Westminster spin doctor in the most rabid years of New Labour spin. And also afterwards, until he got caught out by a leaked email making fun of a Tory MP's wife's mental health, and ways they were going to smear various politicians.

Even Decca Aitkenhead, who was at university with him, left a lot to be read between the lines when he died. As you say, the most positive thing anyone could say about him was "He was good at what he did". And what he did, was to be a political shit.

Here's a quote from Toby Young's article when he died:

The death of Derek Draper, the former Labour party apparatchik, got acres of press coverage, with tributes pouring in from the great and the good, including Tony Blair. But reading the obituaries, I couldn’t help feel that they didn’t do justice to the man I first met in the early 1990s, and for a time counted among my closest friends. They neither captured the full extent of his skulduggery nor how entertaining he could be when relating the latest gossip from Blair’s inner circle.
His friend Decca Aitkenhead’s piece in the Sunday Times came closest, but she left out one of my favourite anecdotes, perhaps because it involves her. As I recall, Derek’s wife, the TV presenter Kate Garraway, had sold a package to OK! magazine about their wedding in 2005 and, as part of the deal, agreed to write an account of her ‘special day’. It was due while they were on their honeymoon and, since selling the story had been Derek’s idea, she asked him to ghost-write it for her. He agreed, and then, unbeknownst to her, called Decca and asked if she would do the honours. When the piece was published under Garraway’s byline, Decca was astonished to discover that Derek hadn’t changed a single word in her ghost-written, ‘first person’ article.
There was no trace of hypocrisy with Derek – he would describe his intrigues with the relish of a Shakespearean villainI like that story because of the layer upon layer of duplicity it reveals, which was typical of the man. I also find the brazen cynicism of it quite appealing. That, too, was one of Derek’s hallmarks. During the time I knew him well, from 1993-95, he was unapologetic about being a rogue, bragging about his misdeeds as a Labour party fixer as he held court in Green Street, a nefarious private members’ club in Mayfair. I remember asking him at the end of one long evening whether he had a contingency plan if any of his misdemeanours were written about in a newspaper. ‘That’s easy,’ he said in his strong Lancashire accent. ‘Born-again Christian.’
I later had to remind him of this conversation when, following his downfall after the Observer ran a devastating exposé in 1998, he earnestly told me he’d seen the error of his ways and become a born-again Christian.

I’ll miss Derek Draper, the old rascal | The Spectator

I have watched any of this.

Is it explained why she was paying 4k(?) a week (?)in fees?

Was it connected to income or because she wanted more care than he was deemed entitled to?

Obviously not the same but my Dad's care home fees were 1k a week with his income being his pension & his one asset a bog standard 3bed semi which sold for less than 200,000

I read that her salary is about 500,000

Well if your team have spoken, that’s it then. 🤣

Ffs, it’s just opinions and I find it even worse when people who have not watched the programme, just blindly repeat what others have said. At least watch it and form your own opinion, but even then what anyone else thinks doesn’t matter.

Regardless of what money she has or doesn’t have, Derek and his family went through something dreadful, carers are struggling, the care system is shit and it’s difficult to know where to turn for help/advice. If someone in Kates position found it difficult, many others will find it even worse. That’s what I took from it anyway. If this shines a light on the issues with care, it’s a good thing.

Bang on!

Lots of people go through lots of dreadful things every day. What they don’t do its peddle it repeatedly to the public under the guise of raising awareness to garner profit while sitting on 2 goldmines.,

The last few years are etched on her face, she's been through a lot.

A little bit of compassion wouldn't go amiss.

They’re also etched on her bank balance.

They could talk about their difficulties if they chose to. If they choose not to that’s fine. Kate chose to, as is her right to do. It has raised awareness, I know people who knew nothing about the difficulties faced by carers who now do have an awareness. A couple even started donating to a carers charity. It’s a good thing.

What exactly is she raising awareness of and how does it benefit anyone else to know "Dereks story"? It wasn't a preventable condition.