Kate Garraway has been feeling unsure about attending tonight's (09.09.21) National Television Awards without her husband Derek Draper.
Kate Garraway
The 'Good Morning Britain' co-host is nominated in the Authored Documentary category for their film 'Kate Garraway: Finding Derek', about her husband's coronavirus ordeal and his subsequent battle with the after-effects, which is still ongoing.
But she admitted it "feels a bit wrong" to go to the ceremony at London's The O2 without him.
She said: "I’ve been feeling really emotional, to be honest, and wondering whether to go at all because it just feels a bit wrong to go.
"It feels wrong to be asking people to vote because it’s such a difficult subject.
"For those people, I’d love for it to get the profile because actually, I don’t want them to be forgotten. We’ve got to keep going."
But Martin Lewis, who is guest co-hosting 'GMB' alongside Susanna Reid today, urged Kate to attend the event "with pride".
He said: "I think you should go with pride. It will be bittersweet.
"Derek is very proud of you as a journalist, this is a journalistic piece of work that you’ve done that’s shone a light on the difficulties that so many people have faced.
"You hold your head up high and you go. Win or lose, you hold your head up high."
Kate's comments come after she decided last night (08.09.21) to ask for people's votes, after previously choosing not to.
She wrote on Instagram: "Have been feeling very torn about asking you to vote for our documentary #FindingDerek ‘s nomination for @officialntas tomorrow. I am very proud of it but felt I shouldn’t be asking for more from you. I have even wondered if I shouldn’t go to such a sparkling event and take time away from the family who need me now more than ever. But a stranger just changed my mind! She was walking past our house & called out “hope you win” . I thanked her but said didn’t think we would as so many good ones in the category & I hadn’t been campaigning for votes as others have. She looked horrified . “But you must “ she said “ my sister died from Covid damage two weeks ago. Her heart had been ruined by the virus last summer. She watched your documentary and it gave her so much hope.” It broke my heart. So now I am asking you to vote please - not for me but to highlight the thousands that have lost lives and livelihoods to covid , and to the thousands more that battle on devastated by it. Also for the millions of others who are facing terrible diagnoses of any illness , the tortuous wait for treatment as our NHS strains to cope. It would be wonderful if your vote meant they felt less forgotten and helped me to fight on for them. (sic)"
Last month, Kate admitted she was hoping Derek might be able to attend this year's NTAs.
She said: "I was just looking, the ceremony is September 9th. I was just thinking, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if Derek was well enough to come?'
"I was trying to work out the dates and see the logistics of how that might work.
"There's some brilliant other documentaries in the category, I don't think for a moment we will win.
"But it would just be lovely for him to be there.
"I'll start planning how that might work, and we can say our prayers.
"Thank you very much for the nomination."
Tagged in Kate Garraway