Kate Garraway has received a response from the council after telling fans on social media that she had received “unsettling post” for her late husband Derek Draper.
The TV presenter, 56 – who is among the hosts on Good Morning Britain – took to social media earlier in the week with posts addressed to Haringey Council in London. She stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she had been trying to get in touch with the council about her late husband Derek.
She said in her tweets that she had been on hold for almost 50 minutes whilst trying to reach out after having received “unsettling post making demands” which Derek, who passed away, aged 56, in January, “obviously” can’t respond to.
Kate tweeted just after 5pm on Tuesday: “@haringeycouncil – please help – have been trying for ten days [solid] to speak to someone about my husband passing away – following unsettling post making demands which obviously he can’t respond to. I just cannot get through. Again today nearly 50 mins wait & before I could.”
She followed-up with another tweet, writing in the second one: “@haringeycouncil … the man put me straight back to the beginning – another 20 mins and then it timed out as shuts at 5pm. Is there a bereavement service or SOMETHING!!!!”
Fans rallied behind Kate following the posts earlier this week. Haringey Council has since responded to her initial tweet. The council issued a reply, asking her to reach out to them via direct messaging on the social media platform on Wednesday morning.
The tweet from Haringey Council’s account reads: “Hello Kate. I’m sorry to hear that. Please send us a DM and provide the details of your enquiry along with your contact details and I’ll see what i can do to help. Thank you. PS.”
The posts come after Kate appeared alongside her late husband in the ITV documentary Derek’s Story last month. It was the third of her documentaries about him with the broadcaster, following Finding Derek and Caring for Derek.
The latest one “documents the final year of his life” and it had been teased ahead of its release that it would also look at his life before the Covid pandemic. It included references to his political career and his relationship with Kate.
ITV said in a synopsis about the project: “With around five million unpaid carers in England and Wales, the film also highlights the often prohibitive costs as well as practical difficulties, of caring for people within their homes.”
Derek passed away in January after having made headlines over health issues in recent years, including having been hospitalised for over a year during the Covid pandemic. Kate, paying tribute at the time when she announced his death, commented: “I was so lucky to have you in my life.”
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