Kate Garraway celebrated her 57th birthday on Saturday, but was sad because it was her first birthday without a husband Dirk Draper.
Earlier this year the ITV presenter announced the death of her husband at the age of 56, after a long and difficult battle with complications related to Covid.
She has experienced many firsts as she plans a family vacation without him but revealed her birthday was “so sad” despite being surrounded by family.
When she appeared Good morning Great BritainKate addressed her birthday, with a slight pang of sadness saying she was just 'glad to be alive' after a horrific few years.
Her co-stars showered her with good wishes to cheer her up Ed Ballen said she looked good in her bright yellow floral dress.
Kate seemed in good spirits before the show, but her Instagram post told a different story when she shared that she almost “cried all day” because she missed her late husband.
“Yesterday was another sad first birthday – my first birthday 🎂 since Derek passed away,” the star captioned a video of her family singing Happy Birthday to her.
Kate continued: 'I woke up so sad and thought, I could cry all day or celebrate life, like he did so well. And thanks to great friends, we made it!
'See you tomorrow from 6am on @gmb – have a great bank holiday weekend everyone!'
Draper had died in January after a severe case of long Covid left him in a coma for two months with a host of health problems.
The virus severely damaged his internal organs, causing him to be frequently hospitalized after his initial illness escalated.
An intimate documentary, entitled Finding Derek, watched his family – Kate and their two children Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14 – cared for him and cared for him.
The children and their mother now want to go on holiday for the first time with their 'new' family dynamic.
“We're getting a family vacation. But it's going to be a bit of a challenge because it's a different kind of family structure than we have now,” she said. MailOnline. “But we're going to do something beautiful.”
This holiday planning comes after Kate admitted Draper's care had left her in debt as it cost £16,000 a month, exceeding her paycheck from ITV.
She said at the time: 'I am in debt. “I can't make enough money to pay my debts because I'm managing Derek's care, and I can't even use the money I do have to support Derek's recovery because it's always running on the basics.”
Despite the hardships she faces, Kate seemed bright and cheerful on the morning show, amid her birthday celebrations.
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