They became firm friends when they starred together on I’m A Celebrity in December 2019.
And Jacqueline Jossa has praised her ‘inspiring’ pal Kate Garraway for her strength during her husband Derek Draper’s coronavirus battle.
In a new interview with The Mirror, the former EastEnders star, 28, said she ‘didn’t know how’ the GMB host, 53, ‘held it together’ as Derek spent several months in intensive care and remained in hospital for over a year.
Inspiration: Jacqueline Jossa has praised her ‘inspiring’ pal Kate Garraway for her strength during her husband Derek Draper’s coronavirus battle (pictured together on I’m A Celebrity in 2019)
The two ladies spent weeks bonding in the Australian jungle, with Jacqueline remarking on how agonising it is seeing her friend trying to cope with Derek’s illness and the struggles that came with it.
The former lobbyist, 53, was diagnosed with Covid-19 in March 2020, just three months after the trio met in Australia in December.
She said: ‘It’s kind of surreal because I felt like we had just left them. It was a weird thing but she was incredible and I find her really inspiring because she just really kept on going. I truly believe her positive vibes and positive thinking really really helped their situation. I don’t know how she held it together. She’s amazing.’
Praise: In a new interview with The Mirror, the former EastEnders star, 28, said she ‘didn’t know how’ the GMB host, 53, ‘held it together’ as Derek spent several months in intensive care and remained in hospital for over a year (Derek pictured in hospital)
She added of the situation: ‘It’s just so horrible. Kate is the most loveliest human being you will ever meet in your life. No-one deserves that and obviously Derek is super lovely as well.’
The actress added that though lockdown restrictions have stopped her showing her support to Kate in person, she notes that she ‘sent my love’ and the pair have said they ‘miss each other’, with Jacqueline hoping they can ‘catch up’ soon.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline commented on the love that Kate has for her husband, recalling how the presenter would often tear up when talking about him during their three-week stint in the jungle.
Bond: The two ladies spent weeks bonding in the Australian jungle, with Jacqueline remarking on how agonising it is seeing her friend trying to cope with Derek’s illness and the struggles that came with it
Kind words: ‘I find her really inspiring because she just really kept on going. I truly believe her positive vibes and positive thinking really really helped their situation. I don’t know how she held it together’
She explained: ‘I did meet Derek and their kids and they are an absolutely lovely family. It’s weird because all Kate did was talk about Derek, so I had a vision of what he was like. She literally would cry every time that she spoke about him, she just loved him so much. It was so nice.’
The In The Style ambassador added that her friend is ‘so strong’ and has continued to be so for her kids Darcey, 15 and Billy, 11, adding that she’s dealt with things how she feels ‘appropriate’.
It has been confirmed that Derek is Britain’s longest surviving Covid hospital patient after he was first admitted with breathing difficulties on March 30 last year.
The father of two’s body has been ‘universally affected’ by the condition, which means that it has targeted his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
Sympathy: ‘It’s just so horrible. Kate is the most loveliest human being you will ever meet in your life. No-one deserves that and obviously Derek is super lovely as well’
Lovely: It’s weird because all Kate did was talk about Derek, so I had a vision of what he was like. She literally would cry every time that she spoke about him, she just loved him so much. It was so nice’
Meanwhile, Derek returned to their adapted family home earlier this month after spending a year in hospital battling Covid and the after-effects.
And Kate has revealed there have been ‘lots of little positives’ since her husband returned home.
She told how Derek ‘remembered she needed flattery’ and recently commented on a new dress she was wearing.
Kate and her children Darcey and Billy were ‘over the moon’ earlier this month when Derek was able to return home after he spent more than a year in intensive care dealing with the after-effects of coronavirus.
Support: The In The Style ambassador added that her friend is ‘so strong’ and has continued to be so for her kids Darcey, 15 and Billy, 11, adding that she’s dealt with things how she feels ‘appropriate’
During Thursday’s episode of GMB, Kate said she was delighted ‘on so many levels’ just days ago when he spotted she was wearing a new outfit.
When asked how everything is, she said: ‘It’s a whirligig. It’s been wonderful having Derek at home.
‘There are lots of little positives. Whether they are positives because it is genuinely helping his cognition being at home, or whether it’s just because I’m there to see the little things. Whereas I couldn’t go in before. I don’t know.
‘But it feels positive, little moments of reaction.
‘He said something the other day. I walked in just before I left to go to Smooth [Radio] and he said, ‘New dress,’ which was just amazing.
Home: Meanwhile, Derek returned to their adapted family home earlier this month after spending a year in hospital battling Covid and the after-effects
Sweet: Kate says there have been ‘lots of little positives’ since her husband Derek Draper returned home – and he recently recognised she was wearing a ‘new dress’
‘And it was [a new dress]. I thought that was amazing on so many levels because he recognised it, he realised and remembered that I need a lot of flattery, so there was some emotional collection there.
‘And it was just a little moment. And we’re back to the bits in between.’
Kate admitted it has been ‘quite an eye-opener’ looking after Derek, who is receiving 24-hour care since he returned home from hospital, alongside the experts.
And it has made her realise what an ‘extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility’ being a carer is. She added: ‘It is a relief [to have Derek home].
‘They [the experts] are an extraordinary bunch of people. We all know carers are incredible, we’ve said it so much this year. But for them it’s learning about him, learning about me.
‘It’s been quite an eye-opener. We always talk about that role of caring and support in the home, how big it is, but until you’re actually at the coalface of it it’s an extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility.
‘So far so good, but I don’t want to tempt fate.’
Pleased: During Thursday’s episode of GMB, Kate said she was delighted ‘on so many levels’ just days ago when he spotted she was wearing a new outfit