Kate Garraway hits back at backlash from vile trolls after daring to laugh during GMB return-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Kate Garraway received backlash from cruel trolls after her Good Morning Britain return this week.

The 56-year-old presenter was back as an anchor on the ITV breakfast show on Thursday just days after her husband Derek Draper’s funeral following his death last month aged 56.

Kate appeared via video link for an interview on GMB earlier in the week before returning to her day job.

Although it was an emotional time for Kate, she was still able to joke and laugh with her friend and co-star Ben Shephard, but somehow there were people who took issue with it.

‘I got a bit of flack on social media yesterday for laughing with you [Ben], as though that would imply I didn’t care,’ she admitted during Friday’s episode during a chat with Larry Lamb and Marie Curie bereavement coordinator Claire Collins.

She added: ‘But when you laugh, you’re laughing because you want the joy that that person brought… People watching at home have got troubles in their life and you want to share that joy with them.’

Kate Garraway responded backlash over joking with Ben Shephard (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

She returned to Good Morning Britain by her friend’s side this week (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Well said, Kate.

Earlier in the week, Ben joked he would give his friend some ‘leeway’ during such a tough time, while Kate teased that she was excited to be getting out into the real world and back on screen.

‘I’m going to be looking forward to a blow dry,’ she quipped. ‘I’m going to be finding fake eyelashes. I’m going to be very much looking forward to applying fake tan.

‘Don’t worry, I will be a little bit more respectable by Thursday. I’ll be doing a lot of homework between now and then because I feel like I’ve been in a very small bubble.’

Kate’s husband Derek Draper died last month (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)

Derek died almost four years after first contracting Covid-19.

In a statement, Kate wrote: ‘As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.

‘Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.’

On Thursday Ben, 49, spoke about how ‘extraordinary’ Derek’s funeral was, saying that it was a ‘real celebration’ and that the entire family did him ‘proud’.

Kate has been able to laugh with Ben during her GMB return (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘I wanted to make it about Derek, not about me,’ Kate responded, before joking: ‘That changes this morning, it’s back to me.’

Putting ‘jokes aside’, the presenter emphasised how ‘fantastic’ her late husband’s friends have been, as well as their teenage children, Billy, 14, and Darcey, 17.

Kate acknowledged the fact that there are lots of people who experience grief who don’t have the jobs that she and Ben have, and so while they might have ‘love around them’, it might be ‘harder for them to see it’.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 at 6am.

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