The idea of dating when you are middle-aged can be daunting. But Kate Garraway has some advice for anyone looking for love. To help promote her new book, The Joy of Big Knickers, the Good Morning Britain star has shared her top tips for mid-life daters in a new video for the Daily Mail. The most important thing, she has said, is to go with an open mind. Kate has been married to her husband Derek Draper since 2005 – but, by her own admission, says there is "no way" she would have picked him out on a dating app. "And actually, he's the best thing that ever happened to me," she confessed.
Kate Garraway recently released her first book, The Joy of Big Knickers
Kate's second tip is to be confident. "Always make sure that you have confidence in yourself," the star encouraged. "You have something to offer – and if they can't see it, someone else will." Similarly, Kate said it is important to stay on the lookout for people who will compliment "the confidence the first 40 or 50 years of life have brought you".
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The TV presenter's final piece of advice is to be safe. In the realm of online dating, safety is a concern, and Kate urged people to trust their instincts. "Never be pressurised into meeting someone you are chatting to online if you don’t want to," she said. "Always tell someone you are going to meet someone. If there is something that is a little bit odd or doesn't feel right, listen to it."
The Good Morning Britain star has been married to Derek Draper since September 2005
Kate – who will celebrate her landmark 50th birthday in May – recently opened up about her own 11-year marriage to former Labour advisor Derek, who she met through a mutual friend at GMTV. "We went for drinks in London and she invited him along, telling him there was this girl at GMTV she really wanted him to meet," Kate told the Belfast Telegraph. "He thought it was Andrea McLean. He had Googled the wrong person. I think he was a bit disappointed when I turned up because Andrea's gorgeous!"
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She added: "We got on straight away. I thought he was – and still is – very interesting." The couple married in their late 30s and are parents to ten-year-old daughter Darcey and seven-year-old son Billy. "I would have loved to have had more children. I would have probably ended up one of those people who appear in the newspaper with 25 kids," Kate confessed. "But you make decisions at the time. You can't go back and rerun. Do I wish I'd had a child with a person I dated in the sixth form? No."