Kate Garraway, 58, dealt further financial blow as she issues urgent plea amid Derek Draper care bill debt
Kate Garraway has taken to social media to issue a plea to her bank after finding herself unable to access her accounts since Friday.
The Good Morning Britain star used social media platform X to reach out to her bank, Barclays, directly after changing her phone handset and thus, being unable to access her accounts.
This latest setback compounds significant financial difficulties for the presenter, who has been grappling with debts believed to be between £500,000 and £800,000 following her late husband Derek Draper’s care.
The presenter, 58, took to X to contact the bank after failing to reach customer service. “@Barclays please please get in touch with me…
“I have not been able to access any of my Barclays accounts current or savings since Friday due to changing my phone handset and can’t get through to anyone on customer service – please dm me,” she wrote. (sic)
Barclays responded through their official account, asking her to send her details via direct message to resolve the issue.
The plea comes after Political lobbyist Draper died aged 56 in January 2024 following a four-year battle with long Covid. Kate had been paying £16,000 monthly for his round-the-clock care.
A liquidator’s report revealed that Derek’s now-defunct psychotherapeutic company Astra Aspera, which was jointly controlled by Garraway, owed £288,000 to HMRC.
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This represents a reduction from the previous 2023 submission of £716,822.
According to Companies House filings, Garraway has paid back £21,000 so far. Her spokesperson stated she “doesn’t recognise these figures” and is “shocked” by how they’re being presented, confirming she remains in constant contact with HMRC.
A statement to the Daily Mail from her spokesperson read: “Kate has met all that the liquidators of Derek’s company have asked for and more over the past four years.
“She doesn’t recognise these figures and is shocked that it’s being presented in this way by them.
“Caring for Derek and supporting her family when Derek could no longer run his own businesses has taken a huge financial toll on her, but she’s determined to put things right.
“She is in constant contact with HMRC to make sure she honours what’s required from Derek’s now defunct company.”
Garraway has been open about the financial toll, admitting: “I am ashamed of the fact I’m in debt.
“I have an incredible job that I love, that’s very well paid. I’m not a carer travelling miles, paying for their own transport to go and help somebody for minimum wage.
“I’m somebody that is very well paid, and so I just feel a shame that I couldn’t make it work,” she said on GMB.
She revealed the care costs exceeded her ITV salary: “Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV.
“And that is before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids, so we are at a crunch point. I am in debt.”
Draper was among the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19, being admitted into an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020.
He was one of the country’s longest suffering Covid patients after being in hospital, but never fully recovered after the virus left long-lasting damage to his organs and meant he needed round-the-clock care.