Kate Garraway has long been praised for her searingly candid updates regarding her husband Derek Draper's ongoing COVID-19 health battle.
And while the Good Morning Britain presenter has shared glimmers of hope, Kate has given a brand-new update, revealing that there's still a "long road ahead."
WATCH: Kate Garraway explains why she avoids talking about husband Derek Draper
Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on the latest episode of her Journey to the Magic podcast, Kate, 55, explained: "It's challenging, he's still very, very damaged. He still can't really move, still can't really speak, still fed through tubes, and so there's a long road ahead."
Hinting at progress, she went on to say: "But if you compare to last Christmas, or the Christmas before, when he was still in hospital then you can see improvement. It's just, you just want it to be quicker and faster, of course, like everybody would.
Derek contracted coronavirus in 2020
"But it's a challenging one – he spent most of last year in the hospital as well for various different things, so it was lovely to have him home."
READ: Kate Garraway on marriage with husband Derek: 'So much has changed'
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Derek fell critically ill back in 2020 after contracting coronavirus. He spent 13 months in hospital before finally being allowed to move back to his family home, where Kate and specialist nurses have been taking care of him ever since.
During the candid chat, Kate moreover shared a rare glimpse inside the creation of her eye-opening documentaries, Finding Derek, and Caring For Derek.
Touching on the emotional toll of her husband's ordeal, Kate said: "It was so emotional seeing him with all the tubes and everything that goes with it and in such a sick state. But I couldn't really take it in and then afterwards the doctors would say, 'Did you see any difference from last time?' And I was thinking 'Gosh, I don't really know that I took it in' – I was just overwhelmed with emotion."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe broadcast journalist opened up
She continued: "So, I started filming it, not the sounds because I haven't worked out how to do that on the phone yet. I'm not very technically confident, but then I would watch it back and I would remember what I had said and try and see if there was a reaction.
"Then I had all this material and they said 'We'd like to do something' and I said 'Well I don't know what the end of the story is yet, but you're right. Let's try and do something.'"
Elsewhere in the podcast, Kate reflected on a particularly poignant family trip.
Kate with Giovanna Fletcher
In 2020, Kate and her family travelled to Disneyland Paris in what turned out to be their final family holiday together before Covid struck. "We stayed in Paris [for a weekend] and went to Disneyland Paris for a day and [also] we went up the Eiffel tower and showed the kids a bit of Paris – because all they really wanted to do was to go to Disneyland Paris," Kate said.
MORE: Kate Garraway's dramatic home renovations for husband Derek - details
READ: Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper’s heartbreaking Covid battle – the full story
"I remember as we headed back to get on the train under the tunnel, we went into a pharmacy to get some paracetamol or something and everywhere in French it said 'no masks all sold out,'" she continued.
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe TV star with her daughter
"I remember Derek and I saying to each other, 'God they're taking it really seriously over here' and then we came back and it was literally about two or three weeks later Derek got sick and so it was the last thing we did together."
The presenting star told Giovanna how they'd all hoped to return to Disneyland Paris. She explained: "So, it was our big goal to go back there with Derek, unfortunately, on the morning [of the trip] he couldn't come. But we went back there with the kids and I was lucky enough to go with my best friend Vicky and it was just an amazing thing, so it’s a special place."
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