‘Numb’ Kate Garraway reveals she has been attacked on social media for laughing on GMB weeks after the death of her husband Derek as she says: ‘It was implied I didn’t care!’

Kate Garraway has revealed she was attacked by trolls on social media on Thursday for smiling during her return to Good Morning Britain.

The TV presenter put on a brave face as she returned to work with co-presenter Ben Shepherd this week following the death of her husband Derek Draper at the age of 56.

During a conversation with actor Larry Lamb and Marie Curie grief coordinator Claire Collins, Kate opened up about the hate she had received online.

She said: ‘I got a bit criticized on social media yesterday for laughing at you (Ben), as if that implied I didn’t care… I have to laugh!’

Kate admitted that she has felt “numb” since losing Derek, saying that “no one is equipped to deal with it (death).

The GMB presenter went on to say that her children have difficulty interacting with other people who make them uncomfortable.

She said: ‘I’m trying to help my children, one thing they have said is that people don’t know what to say to them. They want to help other people feel comfortable with them. Not to ignore it, but to help…

Kate added: “Ben wants to know how he can support me, so how does he do that?”

Kate Started presenting tasks again on Thursday for the first time since her husband’s death, telling delighted viewers that “life has to start over” and that “nothing has changed.”

Kate opened the show with old colleague Ben, who told her she had ‘made Derek proud’ with her behavior after his funeral last week.

Kate thanked him and admitted she felt ‘wobbly’, but said: ‘I definitely wanted to make it about Derek, not me.

‘It was also very nice to feel so much love from everyone here.’

Last week the presenter choked back tears during the programme, just three days after husband Derek’s funeral, to reveal heartbreaking details of his final hours – and how daughter Darcey, 17, told him: ‘It’s going to be okay, daddy’ before he slipped away .

Speaking about her decision to return to the show this morning, Kate confirmed that ‘life has to start over’.

She said, ‘I don’t know what it will be like. Grief cannot be mastered in a day or a year.

‘People ask why I’m going back to work. Life must begin. We have to pick ourselves up and move on.

“That’s what Derek would want me to do. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

“We have to pick ourselves up, that’s what Derek did and would like us to do.”

Garraway said today it was wonderful but “weird” to be back at the counter.

“The makeup girls brought me to tears this morning just by saying hello,” Garraway said at the start of the program.

‘Thanks also to all of you at home. I know I said it on Monday, but you guys were incredible.”

Co-host Ben Shephard joked that he would give Garraway some “wiggle room” before saying she would make her husband proud with the “extraordinary funeral.”

“You really made Derek proud, it was something extraordinary,” he said.

Kate also joked: ‘I’m going to look out for a hairdryer.

‘I’m going to find false eyelashes. I’m really looking forward to applying fake tan.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be a little more respectable by Thursday.” I’m going to do a lot of homework between now and then because I feel like I’ve been in a very small bubble.

“So I’m really looking forward to getting out into the world and sharing with everyone what’s going on and reconnecting with everyone.

“So, thanks for having me back, and just be patient a little longer. I might be a little rusty… there’s a new king, right? Have I caught up?’

Kate also said that someone calling her a widow for the first time “took her breath away.”

During the show, Ben Shephard thanked viewers for their ‘lovely messages’ and read out one which read: ‘Nice to see you back, Kate, with Ben. As a widow, I know those shaky feelings. Thank you for always thinking of others.”

The message prompted Garraway to say: ‘The other day someone called me a widow for the first time – it took my breath away. It was an Amazon delivery person saying, “I’m so sorry for your loss now that you’re a widow” and you suddenly realize, and I suddenly realized, what everyone goes through.

“That every moment is something new and we all have to get through it and everyone is dealing with all kinds of things that they’re facing.

“I really understand what people think about these things.” Garraway also thanked viewers for their supportive messages.

As she and Shephard chatted to Lorraine Kelly before committing to her show, the TV presenter told Garraway: “It’s fantastic to see you back… back where you belong.”

It is the first time Garraway has presented the show since December 8 last year, when she was forced to take a break due to Derek’s deteriorating condition.

Last week she revealed details about Derek’s final hours on the show and what her daughter told her father before he passed away.

She told her daughter Darcey had told Draper, “Daddy, if you can’t do this, everything will be okay. You let yourself go when you have to go.

“Don’t worry about us, don’t worry about mommy. We’ll be fine, because you live on through us.’