Ben Shephard has opened up about the past year, and how difficult it has been to watch his Good Morning Britain co-host Kate Garraway suffer whilst her husband remains in hospital after contracting coronavirus in March.
During a candid chat with Absolute Radio host Dave Berry on his Dave Berry's Dadpod podcast, the GMB star heaped praise on his brave colleague and how she managed to navigate her work alongside her family life throughout the whole ordeal.
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"Occasionally, it's been tough, it's been really tough for family reasons and for personal reasons," he explained. "Going through COVID-19, one of my very good colleagues Kate has been very seriously affected in her family and Billy and Darcy are similar ages to Sam and Jack and they're good friends."
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Of the support from GMB viewers, Ben added: "The support and the outpouring of love and generosity of spirit from the British public has been incredible... when you see how she's approached it.
"When you see the positivity which she's taking it, and when I see the boys and how they're attacking life, and they're not letting it get in the way of what they're going through.
The two GMB hosts worked together for over a decade
"It makes me very proud and it also, sort of, redoubles your effort to make sure that, you know, we can keep the stories current and tangible, that hopefully we can present it in a way that can make some change."
Ben, 45, is a doting father to two teenage sons Sam and Jack, both of whome he shares with wife Annie. On how he's coped with the past few months, he remarked: "Sadly, at the moment- there is a lot of frustration, despair, bad news and continuing trauma for all of us and we do worry that the damage that we are doing to young people.
Kate and Derek have been married since 2005
"But, I think the thing that gets you through those trickier days when you're dealing with really tough stories or tough subject matter is coming home and seeing them (his kids) and seeing the optimism and the hope and the need to keep striving for things to improve for them.
"To find a base whereby they can build on their life in a creative and constructive way that will make a difference, hopefully."
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