Kate Garraway admits she was forced to withdraw cash from her pension to pay the huge bills from late husband Derek Draper’s medical care – after marking her first birthday since his death

Kate Garraway has revealed she has resorted to withdrawing money from her pension pot to pay for her late husband Derek Draper’s huge medical bills.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 57, shared the insight into her financial problems during a discussion about the NHS and private care.

Following Derek’s death, Kate has revealed she has racked up debts of between £500,000 and £800,000 as she tried to fund her husband’s 24-hour medical care, following his battle with Covid in 2020.

In an ITV documentary last month, the star admitted she couldn’t even afford to have the heating on in October.

Kate revealed she has taken money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s late medical bills, after sharing the results of a GMB survey, which revealed one in five Brits are falling into debt while funding private medical care.

Following Derek’s death, Kate has revealed she has fallen into thousands of pounds of debt while trying to fund her husband’s 24-hour medical care.

She said: ‘I do something similar myself.

‘I had to withdraw the part that you can deduct tax-free from my pension to pay the overdue bills of my husband, who has since passed away.

“People have to do things – it wasn’t a huge pension in the first place – that they haven’t saved for.”

Kate previously said she was researching how to access her pension fund early to fund Derek’s care.

Speaking on a recent episode of GMB, she said: ‘It’s only when a crisis hits that you suddenly think: hmm.

‘I have experience with this, Derek became very ill in March 2020. I knew he had some pensions, I had a small pension that I knew of.”

Last weekend, Kate also celebrated her first birthday since Derek’s death, sharing an Instagram video of her relaxing lunch with a group of friends.

The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles, and she captioned her post: ‘Yesterday was another sad first birthday – my first birthday since Derek passed away.

Kate revealed that she has taken money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s medical bills

Derek was one of the first in Britain to become seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit when the country went into lockdown in March 2020.

Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3 (pictured with Kate in 2019)

Last weekend, Kate also celebrated her first birthday since Derek’s death, sharing an Instagram video of her relaxing lunch with a group of friends

The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles

In a candid caption, Kate said she felt ‘so sad’ when she woke up on her birthday, but decided to spend the day ‘celebrating life’ after Derek’s battle with Covid.

‘I woke up feeling sad and thought: I could cry all day or celebrate life, like he did so well. And thanks to great friends, we made it!

‘See you tomorrow from 6pm on @gmb – have a great bank holiday weekend everyone!’

Kate spent her last birthday opening her cards and reading them to her COVID-stricken husband, which was seen by fans in emotional scenes during her fly-on-the-wall documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.

The journalist is now determined to create ‘beautiful new memories’ for her two children Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14, four months after their father’s death.

Derek was one of the first in Britain to become seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit when the country went into lockdown in March 2020.

He was one of the country’s longest-suffering Covid patients after being hospitalized but never fully recovered after the virus caused long-term damage to his organs and left him requiring round-the-clock care.

Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3.