Lorraine Kelly reflects on Derek Draper death, commends his 'strong' wife Kate Garraway

Lorraine Kelly has shared her heartfelt memories of Derek Draper following the tragic news of his passing at the age of 56.

The 64-year-old talk show host recalled interviewing Derek during his wife Kate Garraway's participation in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2019.

Kate's appearance on the show occurred just months before the onset of the Covid pandemic, and Derek was hospitalized in March 2020, and subsequently placed in a medically-induced coma.

Reflecting warmly on the interview with Derek and his children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14, on her ITV show, Lorraine expressed that she will 'always remember' the pride he exuded for Kate, her colleague at ITV.

Speaking to Weekend Magazine in a forthcoming interview, Lorraine said: 'For me, I will always remember Derek's pride when Kate came out the jungle.

'Obviously it was shortly before Covid, when he got took so, so ill. We interviewed him quite a few times while she was in there and he was bursting with pride.

'I remember him saying "this is her time, Kate's going to do so many wonderful things, I'm so glad she's made such an impact", and then of course, not that long afterwards, he got so, so ill and she was just astonishing.'

Lorraine went on to praise Kate for her 'strength' as she described the Good Morning Britain host as 'remarkable' for looking after her husband Derek during his four-year Covid battle and health struggles.

'I knew Kate was a strong girl, I knew she was strong, but boy she really was absolutely incredible, I don't know how she did it, she's remarkable,' she went on.