Kate Garraway, 58, makes stance clear on assisted dying bill as she opens up on ‘unbearable’ Derek Draper turmoil
Kate Garraway has revealed she fears she could have been “pressured” to make decisions about her late husband Derek Draper’s life if an Assisted Dying Bill had existed during his illness.
Speaking on the day Parliament prepares to vote on the proposed legislation today, the presenter shared her concerns about the potential impact of such laws.
Draper died aged 56 on January 5, 2024, after suffering a heart attack months before Christmas 2023. He had battled long Covid since his 2020 diagnosis, requiring round-the-clock care.
“I think there were times when I could have been pressured with Derek that there was no chance of recovery, and to sort of assist… and fought very hard against it, which I was right to do, because he came through,” Garraway said.
The presenter explained she has experienced both sides of the assisted dying debate. “I’ve sort of been on both sides,” she told viewers, acknowledging the complexity of the issue.
She described witnessing situations where “somebody’s been in an excruciating amount of pain and the last 10 days of their life were unbearable to watch, let alone for them to endure.”
Garraway emphasised the challenge facing lawmakers: “I could see both sides, but it’s getting legislation that protects both, isn’t it?”
She noted that medical professionals “feel they would like to have clarity of law to help people,” highlighting the current uncertainty faced by healthcare workers when dealing with end-of-life care.
Garraway’s diplomatic stance came during a discussion about the bill alongside co-host Adil Ray, palliative medicine consultant Dr Amy Proffitt, and Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, who is backing the bill.
Wilcox has been a vocal supporter of the bill and reiterated her stance during the debate with Garraway and Ray.
When asked by Ray if it “concerned” her that several prominent figures in the medical world had opposed the bill, Wilcox told him: “I couldn’t agree with you more, my brother is a doctor and he is my mother’s favourite.”
After sharing a laugh, Wilcox went on: “But on this front, it is the safest law, it has safeguards at its core.
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“It couldn’t respect the boundaries that we have discussed more. It is not true about the Oregon Law, of people feeling a burden on society.
“The statistics show that two-thirds of the people who ask for the medicines in Oregon don’t actually use them, it’s just that wonderful, calm safety net that you know that you won’t feel that painful death.
“It’s also about protecting people from coercion when there is no protection now, there are no safeguards now. This would bring in a panel of experts in coercion, in healthcare, (and) in the law…”
However, Dr Proffitt disagreed with the bill, claiming that funding should be targeted towards an improved palliative care system instead.
“What change would make you feel comfortable?”@kategarraway and @adilray discuss the Assisted Dying bill with palliative medicine consultant Dr Amy Proffitt, who says the bill should not become law as it does not contain sufficient safeguards and Dame Esther Rantzen’s… pic.twitter.com/ZbzOweta8D
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 20, 2025
Elsewhere, Garraway has been open about the severe financial impact of Draper’s care, revealing she has accumulated significant debt despite her well-paid television career.
The presenter disclosed that Draper’s care costs totalled £16,000 per month.
“I’ve just had to withdraw the bit you can tax-free for my pension to pay belated bills for my husband that passed away,” the 58-year-old mother of two admitted.
She previously expressed shame about her financial situation: “I am ashamed of the fact that I am in debt because I have an incredible job that I love, that’s very well paid.”
“I’m not a carer travelling miles, paying their own transport to go and help somebody for minimum wage. I’m somebody who is very well paid, and so I just feel a shame that I couldn’t make it work.”
During the debate today, the presenter also revealed a distressing incident from 2020 when bailiffs arrived at her home whilst Derek was in a coma.
“In the latter half of 2020, somebody came to the door, a bailiff,” she explained. “It was all in Derek’s name, and they said, ‘You have to pay your year’s council tax plus the fines, because we’ve been chasing you with the letters’.”
Garraway admitted responsibility for the situation: “It was my fault,” she said, explaining she hadn’t been opening letters in Derek’s name because her “head was in another place.”
The speed of escalation shocked her: “The speed that happened was six weeks between him…because he was in a coma, he hadn’t paid our council tax to having bailiffs at the door.”