Full inside story of Kate Garraway’s budding new romance: Delighted friends reveal secrets of ‘complicated’ new relationship after she tragically lost husband Derek, ‘cosy’ dates... and how they just clicked. By KATIE HIND
When Kate Garraway arrives at ITV’s studios for her early morning presenting role on Good Morning Britain, she’s usually flustered and frazzled.
Occasionally late, she is described as ‘chaotic’ by the co-stars who adore her.
Her punctuality is a running joke. But, after all, she is a working single mum-of-two who was widowed just two years ago when her husband Derek Draper died after a devastating four-year health battle which began when he contracted Covid in 2020.
And it was Kate’s busy schedule – juggling her roles at GMB and Smooth FM radio while also being a dedicated mum to daughter Darcey, 20, and son Billy, 16 – that left her resigned to the fact that she probably wouldn’t find love again.
Indeed, she confessed to several friends and colleagues since Derek’s death in January 2024 that she simply doesn’t have the time to date. Until now, it would appear.
Because yesterday I revealed how Kate has found happiness again after growing close to broadcast journalist Liam Halligan, 56, a friend of Derek’s for more than 20 years.
And while Kate, 58, has yet to comment herself on any budding romance, as she left Smooth radio’s headquarters in central London yesterday it wasn’t just her beaming smile that gave a clue to her newfound contentment.
For poking out of her handbag was a copy of yesterday’s Daily Mail, which featured my showbiz exclusive, revealing their close friendship, on the front page.
Trust me, most celebrities aren’t this happy when their secret romances are revealed but then, I am told, Kate is thrilled with finding Liam, described by former colleagues as ‘quite a catch’.
While Kate Garraway has yet to comment on any budding romance, as she left Smooth radio’s headquarters in central London on Tuesday, it wasn’t just her beaming smile that gave a clue to her newfound contentment... poking out of her handbag was a copy of the Daily Mail
The television presenter played down rumours of a full-blown relationship when I approached her yesterday but I can divulge that she ‘very much hopes it will go somewhere’.
Liam, however, was considerably less coy, confirming their union while appearing on Mark Dolan’s current affairs show on Talk TV yesterday.
When questioned by Dolan about his private life, Liam confessed he was ‘good friends’ with Kate, adding: ‘It’s early days, we’ll see what happens.’
He then elaborated: ‘I’ve known her for a long time. I knew Derek, I was a political commentator. In recent years, for different reasons, we have both become single, against our wishes. So, in recent weeks and months, Kate and I have become good friends.’
Friends of the star are delighted that she may be embarking on a new chapter, albeit cautiously.
One told me: ‘It’s all very complicated, as you can imagine, for Kate who lost Derek not that long ago. She never thought she would be able to move on.
‘But now she can see something. She is being calm but she does hope that she might be skipping down the road holding his hand at some point in the near future.
‘They have been spending lots and lots of time together, some of it alone, without their wider friendship group.
‘It has all been kept rather quiet. Liam has been on the periphery of Kate’s friendship group, which includes the likes of presenter Clare Nasir and others, for a while.
‘But both are unattached and they have formed something really quite special.’
Kate with her husband Derek Draper, who died in January 2024 after a devastating four-year health battle which began when he contracted Covid in 2020
Kate has found happiness again after growing close to broadcast journalist Liam Halligan, a friend of her late husband for over 20 years
So under the radar has their growing friendship been that some of their friends were stunned to read the news yesterday morning.
It is also thought that neither Kate’s children nor Liam’s three with former partner, journalist Lucy Ward, were aware of quite how close their parents have become. Certainly, many of Kate’s ITV colleagues called me yesterday in shock.
‘All Kate ever says is that she is too busy [for romance],’ says one friend. ‘She is also very, very chaotic, in the most adorable way. She is the first to admit that.
‘But holding down a boyfriend with everything else that’s going on is actually quite hard to believe – even for those who love Kate the most. They are, though, thrilled. It is very, very lovely to see.’
Friends of the morning television veteran revealed that she had spent the weekend with Liam in his home town of Saffron Walden in Essex.
She was seen ‘getting cosy’ with him at The Railway Arms pub –where he was performing with his band, The Hooligans, alongside his two daughters Maeve and Ailis. ‘Everyone was having a great time, there was a lot of singing and dancing,’ said one onlooker.
As well as meeting several of Liam’s friends, Kate was also introduced to his neighbours and is understood to have been to visit Liam on several occasions, which has prompted much chatter among the locals.
So what is it about Liam Halligan that has convinced Kate to enter the dating game again?
Of Irish descent, he is said to be cheeky and chatty – just like Kate.
An award-winning journalist, Liam was previously economics and business editor at GB News and currently writes a column in The Sunday Telegraph.
Kate with her son Billy, 16, and daughter Darcey, 20. It is thought that neither Kate’s children nor Liam’s three with former partner, journalist Lucy Ward, were aware of quite how close their parents have become
He grew up modestly in Kingsbury, north-west London, where he attended the £30,000-a-year John Lyon School in Harrow on the Hill on a scholarship and became head boy.
Liam was the first person in his family to attend university, he graduated with a first-class degree in economics from the University of Warwick and went on to gain an MPhil in economics from St Antony’s College, Oxford.
He is separated from his partner, journalist Lucy Ward. As well as two daughters, they have a son and in the 1990s were regarded as a budding Fleet Street ‘power couple’ while he worked at the Telegraph and she at the Guardian.
‘Back in the day Liam was very, very handsome,’ says one. ‘He was charming and very flirtatious. He has this Irish thing going on which many women quite liked.’
Which might go some way to explaining why another (slightly catty) ex-colleague tells me Liam has always ‘rather liked himself’.
Today, though, those close to Kate say Liam ‘makes Kate laugh’. One friend adds: ‘That’s what she needs right now. They also have their jobs in common. Kate is a journalist and a very intelligent woman. They’ve just kind of clicked. Both are really chatty, they just talk and talk.’
For Kate, she might get her happy ending after all. Her friends certainly hope so, and insist she deserves it.
Her world collapsed when Derek contracted Covid in March 2020. A political lobbyist turned psychotherapist, he was put into an induced coma a month later which he did not wake from until October that year.
Despite being Covid-free by early June 2020, his body had suffered significant damage from the virus, which left him bed bound.
After more than a year in hospital, and having still not regained his speech, Derek was allowed home in April 2021 on a trial basis and he received round-the-clock care and treatment from his wife and carers. His brave battle was the subject of an ITV documentary, Finding Derek.
In July 2022, Kate confirmed he had been readmitted to hospital and later that month it was reported that his condition had worsened. He was taken to hospital again in December for further treatment.
In early December 2023, he suffered a cardiac arrest, a result of the severe complications and long-lasting damage caused to his heart by Covid. Kate spent Christmas with him in hospital and he died on January 3, 2024.
Following his death, Kate was left with crippling debts, thought to be between £500,000 and £800,000 and was forced to sell her second home, a £2million townhouse in Islington, north London.
She and Derek were a much-loved couple in the world of broadcasting after being introduced by former Labour MP, Gloria De Piero – one of Kate’s best friends. They wed in September 2005 in front of the likes of Fiona Phillips, her husband Martin Frizell and Strictly professional dancer Brendan Cole.
Since Derek’s death, the last thing on Kate’s mind has been a new relationship and in December last year, speaking on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, she even questioned whether she would ever find love again.
‘I wouldn’t like to think that I’d never had romantic love in my life again,’ she said. ‘I think that would be rather a sad way to go through life, wouldn’t it? But, no, I’m not there yet. I don’t know if anybody would want me.’ Meanwhile, a friend says: ‘We have been encouraging her to get out and date for a while.
‘Derek has been gone for more than two years now, but her life fell apart the day Derek got Covid. For almost four years her life was caring for Derek, being a mum to teenage children and worrying about money as she worked as much as she could to make ends meet.
‘Anyone who knows Kate will hope that she and Liam work out. She is still grieving, and will always love Derek so much, but she has found some happiness now and long may that continue.’
