Exclusive: Kate Garraway on spending her first Christmas without Derek and her determination to make it special - as she vows to create new treasured memories

Kate Garraway spoke to woman&home about having to face the first Christmas without her late husband, Derek, what she's learned about grief and the special memories she'll be treasuring this year, in an exclusive interview for our November issue.

Back in January, Kate's husband, Derek Draper, died at the age of 56, after dealing with almost three years of complications caused by the life-changing damage that his 2020 COVID infection inflicted.

Now, the beloved British TV icon is set to face her first Christmas without Derek, while their children, 18-year-old Darcey and 15-year-old Billy, will be without their father.

Speaking exclusively to woman&home for our Christmas issue, 57-year-old Kate opened up on both the pain the festive period will bring and the special memories she and her children will be holding close during the first Christmas since Derek's death - all with the hope of making new ones together.

Kate told us, "This Christmas will be difficult, as all the firsts are, but I’ve said to the kids, ‘Let’s do what feels right, do some new things and make new memories.’ Maybe we’ll go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve?

"You’ve got to try and let things evolve into new memories, and I’m going to be led by them."

Admitting that while this Christmas will be deeply tough, the past few years have been a struggle in their own way, too, what with Derek's ongoing illness.

"It will be our first Christmas without Derek, but to be honest, the last four or five Christmases have been challenging, although we’ve also had the joy of having Derek there with us," the Good Morning Britain host continued.

"I hope I won’t be blubbing all day, but I’m sure there will be emotional moments. However, I want it to be fun and happy for Darcey and Billy because it’s been a tough few years for them. Maybe they’ll think, ‘At least Dad’s out of pain.’"

Reminiscing on some of the fondest family memories and traditions that she, Derek, Darcey and Billy enjoyed every year, Kate recalled how magical the Christmas drives over to Derek's parents' would always be, saying, "We have so many lovely Christmas memories to look back on and talk about. We used to have a routine where we would get in the car on Christmas Eve and drive to Derek’s parents’ house in Chorley.

"We would dress up for the journey, Derek would put Christmas lights around the inside of the car, and we would rate all the villages’ Christmas lights as we drove through them. It was such a fun thing to do."

Touching on the shock, unpredictability and uncertainty that comes with losing a loved one, Kate admitted that she's learned a lot about the huge impact grief can have, likening it to a "horror film" at times.

"What I’ve learnt about grief is that it is different for everyone and affects you at different times. It catches you when you least expect it. Sometimes I expect something to be hard and it isn’t as bad as I feared," she explained.

"But the next minute... it’s a bit like a horror film, where someone is creeping down a corridor and you think the actor is going to be attacked – and they aren’t. Then they turn around and the monster is right there, it makes you jump and you scream.

"Grief jumps out at you in ways you hadn’t anticipated, but it’s something you’ve got to live through, isn’t it?"

You can read Kate's full exclusive interview with woman&home in the November issue of the magazine, on shelves from October 24th.