Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of

ITV News Meridian ''ITV News Meridian'' is a British television news service broadcast and produced by ITV Meridian. The news service is produced and broadcast from ITV Meridian's studios in Whiteley, near Fareham with reporters also based at bureaux in Didcot, B ...

. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

. Currently, Garraway is the presenter of ''Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway'' on Smooth Radio and newsreader (on Thursdays) and co-anchor (on Fridays) of the

ITV Breakfast ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as ''GMTV, GMTV Limited'') is the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November ...

programme '' Good Morning Britain''.

Early life

Garraway was born in Abingdon,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. Her father was a civil servant and her mother was a teacher. She attended Dunmore Primary School and Fitzharrys School in Abingdon. She then graduated from Bath College of Higher Education (now

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

) with a degree in English and history.

Career

Television

In 1989, Garraway joined the South edition of '' ITV News Central'' on

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

as a production journalist, reporter and news presenter. In 1996, she became co-presenter of the South East edition of ''

'' on

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

after she was "talent spotted" by a boss who viewed her presenting a three-minute bulletin on ITV Central. In 1998, Garraway joined ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' on

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

with Martin Stanford. Garraway joined

in September 2000, co-presenting '' GMTV Today'' with

Andrew Castle Andrew Nicholas Castle (born 15 November 1963) is a British broadcaster and former tennis player. Castle was Great Britain's number 1 in singles tennis in 1986, reaching as high as World No. 80 in June 1988, and No. 45 in doubles in December 19 ...

each Friday (and Thursdays later on). Garraway eventually went on to share presenting duties with

Fiona Phillips Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is a British journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for presenting the ITV Breakfast programme '' GMTV Today''. Early life Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospital in Canterbu ...

and

Emma Crosby Emma Catherine Crosby (born 5 June 1977) is a British television newsreader and journalist. Between 2003 and 2009, Crosby worked at Sky News, regularly co-presenting their breakfast programme ''Sunrise'', along with various other programmes o ...

. In 2009, when GMTV relaunched, she co-hosted the programme with

Ben Shephard Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard (born 11 December 1974) is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2024–present), alongside Cat Deeley. Shephard was a main presenter ...

, presenting on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternate Wednesdays. During Garraway's time at GMTV, she had also co-presented with

Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959) is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist. He co-presented the breakfast television show ''GMTV'' (1993–2005) for ITV, before presenting ''Sunrise'' (2005–2016) for Sky News. Holmes co-presente ...

, John Stapleton and

Dan Lobb Daniel Jonathon Lobb (born 7 January 1972) is a British retired tennis player and television presenter, best known for co-presenting the ITV Breakfast programme '' Daybreak'' from 2010 until 2012. Between 2015 and 2016, he co-presented ''Cowbo ...

. She presented her final show on 31 August 2010. Garraway presented one series of '' Too Many Cooks'' in 2004. In 2007, she was a questioner on '' The People's Quiz''. In 2009, Garraway presented ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...

'' for ITV. She was later replaced by

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...

. Garraway was a regular panellist on '' Wall of Fame'', hosted by

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

. Garraway became entertainment editor of '' Daybreak'' on

(the successor to GMTV) in September 2010. On 6 December 2011, she took over from

Christine Bleakley Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish television presenter. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–20 ...

as the main presenter on an interim basis. On 4 May 2012, it was announced

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

would become the permanent replacement for Bleakley in September 2012.New presenters announced for ITV's ''Daybreak''

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British news television channel of ITV (TV network), ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. ITN, Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the netwo ...

, 4 May 2012 On 3 August 2012, it was reported that Garraway had signed a new contract to present each Friday in Kelly's absence. On 15 February 2014, it was announced Kelly would additionally front the Friday edition of ''Lorraine''. On 3 March 2014, it was reported that ''Daybreak'' would be cancelled and replaced with '' Good Morning Britain''. However, with these changes came the news that Lorraine Kelly would be presenting ''Lorraine'' five days a week, meaning that Garraway no longer continued to present Kelly's show on Fridays. She hosted her final ''Daybreak'' and ''Lorraine'' shows on 25 April 2014 ahead of joining ''Good Morning Britain'' the following month. Since joining ''Good Morning Britain'', Garraway's appearances on ''Lorraine'' have become less frequent. Garraway once again became interim main presenter on ITV Breakfast when Ben Shepherd cut his appearances each week to just two; which meant Garraway hosted four times a week until

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

joined the show later that year. From March 2014 until November 2016, Garraway occasionally presented '' The National Lottery Draws'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. In September 2017, she made a cameo appearance in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

''. In November 2019, Garraway came fourth in the nineteenth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' In 2025, Garraway participated in the sixth series of '' The Masked Singer'' as "Spag Bol". Although she was eliminated in the first episode, her identity wasn't revealed until the second episode.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

Garraway appeared in the fifth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'', partnered with professional dancer Anton du Beke. Garraway finished 8th of the 14 couples despite receiving the lowest score from the judges in every week but one, as she was repeatedly saved by the public vote, prior to her elimination in week seven. In February 2008, Garraway launched legal action against the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' after it published a photograph of her embracing du Beke, insinuating that they were having an affair, which the pair both denied.

Radio

Garraway's broadcasting career began with

BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio Oxford is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Oxfordshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Summertown, Oxfo ...

, and she had become an

Independent Television News Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C. I ...

trainee journalist by 1994. On 18 and 19 August 2012, Garraway co-presented two episodes of ''Weekend Breakfast'' (with Colin Paterson). Over the weekend of 8 September, Garraway again presented ''Weekend Breakfast'' with Paterson. On 6 October 2013, she stood in for

for a show on LBC Radio. Since March 2014, Garraway has presented ''Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway'' 10am–1pm on Smooth Radio.

Books

She released her first book on 9 March 2017, entitled ''The Joy of Big Knickers (or learning to love the rest of your life)''. On 29 April 2021, Garraway's latest book entitled ''The Power of Hope'' was released.

Charity work and awards

Garraway is a charity ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Garraway was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.

Personal life

Garraway was married to Ian Rumsey, her former boss at

, from 1998 to 2002. In September 2005, Garraway married

Derek Draper Derek William Draper (15 August 1967 – 3 January 2024) was an English political lobbyist and psychotherapist. As a political advisor, he was involved in two political scandals: " Lobbygate" in 1998, and another in 2009 while he was edito ...

in Camden, London. Draper was a political aide to former Labour cabinet minister

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

, and was at the centre of the scandal known as "Lobbygate". They lived in north London and had two children together. Draper had an unusually serious case of

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

; he was diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in March 2020 and remained hospitalised in a critical condition as of March 2021. Garraway stated that he "may never recover" and could have "no quality of life" due to the numerous medical complications as a result of COVID-19. Draper returned home on a trial basis in April 2021, and Garraway announced his death in January 2024. She is a supporter of Gillingham FC. On the ITV show ''DNA Journey'' Garraway found out that she is a relation of

Michael Bond Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was an English author. He is best known for a series of children's books featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million books in the series have been sold worldwide, ...

, the creator of

Paddington Bear Paddington Bear (though his name is just Paddington; the "Bear" simply serves to confirm his species; and also known as Paddington Brown for some sources) is a fictional character in British children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October ...

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

*''

Have I Got News for You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

'' (2003) *''

The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

'' (2003) *''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...

'' (5 August 2005) *'' Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes'' (2006) *'' The F Word'' (2008) *'' Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong'' (2008) *'' Shooting Stars'' (2008) *''

As Seen on TV "As seen on TV" is a generic phrase for products advertised on television in the United States for directresponse mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute show ...

'' (2009) *''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'' (2007) *''

'' (2011) *'' All Star Family Fortunes'' (2012) *'' Pointless Celebrities'' (2012, 2014, 2015) *'' Paddy's 2012 Show & Telly'' (2012) *'' This Morning'' (2012; 5 episodes, 2023) *''

Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on ITV2 between 24 September 2008 and 15 December 2022. The show was written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon. The format for th ...

'' (2013) *'' Tricked'' (2013) *'' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (2013, 2019) *'' The Guess List'' (2014) *'' Celebrity Fifteen to One'' (2014) *''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' (2014) *'' Pointless Celebrities'' (2015) *''James Martin: Home Comforts'' (2016) *'' The Keith Lemon Sketch Show'' (2016) *'' The TV That Made Me'' (2016) *'' Safeword'' (2016) *''

Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by David Frost, Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter explores celebrities' h ...

'' (2017) *''

'' (2017) *''Guess the Star'' (2017) *'' Saturday Morning with James Martin'' (2018) *''

The Crystal Maze ''The Crystal Maze'' is a British game show devised by Jacques Antoine, based upon his format for the French game show '' Fort Boyard'', and produced for Channel 4. The programme focuses on teams of contestants, a mixed group of men and women, ...

'' (2018) *'' Tipping Point: Lucky Stars'' (2019) *''Love Your Garden : Grow Your Own'' (2022) *'' The Wheel'' (2024) *''

The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television Cooking show, baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of ...

'' (2025)

Film

Authored works

* ''The Joy of Big Knickers: Or Learning to Love the Rest of Your Life'', Blink Publishing, 2017. * ''The Power of Hope'',

Bantam Press Bantam Press is an imprint of Transworld Publishers which is a British publishing division of Penguin Random House. It is based on Uxbridge Road in Ealing near Ealing Broadway station, London, the same address as Transworld. It releases har ...

, 2021. * ''The Strength of Love'', Bonnier Books, 2023.

Awards

Notes

References

External links

Kate Garraway on Smooth Radio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garraway, Kate 1967 births Alumni of Bath Spa University British infotainers English reporters and correspondents English women television presenters ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Abingdon-on-Thames