Kate Garraway's TV firm goes £165k into the red in fresh financial woe

Kate Garraway’s TV firm has plunged £165,000 into debt - after three other firms she held with late husband Derek Draper ran up debts of £2million

The TV presenter has endured a torrid few years and was left owing £800,000 for the care of Derek, who died from Covid complications in January after a four-year battle at the age of 56.

Now the Good Morning Britain host's tele company Praespero 100 Ltd has gone from profit to huge losses in the space of 12 months.

According to recently filed accounts, the company is £165,011 in debt up to November 30, 2023.The previous year the firm was sitting on a moderately healthy £36,888 in reserves.

The business owes £128,731 to creditors, documents on Companies House have also shown.

In an interview earlier this year Kate, 57, said she didn’t receive any help for Derek’s Covid recovery, saying: 'Derek’s needs were clearly so great, yet he didn’t warrant funded care — so you think, 'If he isn’t getting it, then who is?”'

She added: ‘It’s supposed to be a system that’s meant to catch you if you fall.

‘But actually, it feels like it’s trying to catch you out. You feel like you’re in the dock answering questions about things that will literally mean life or death to someone you love.’

Derek’s pyschotherapy firm Astra Aspera Ltd - which was jointly controlled with Kate - is currently going through liquidation with £913,370 worth of debt. There are creditor claims of £716,822 from the HMRC and £196,548 from four other creditors including a £50,000 bank loan.

In 2012, two other firms jointly controlled by Derek and Kate went bust.

Fulfill Media Ltd had debts totalling £922,807, which included £88,486 owed to HMRC, £90,882 to trade creditors, and £462,808 in ’”third party loans".

At the same time, Countrymouse Media Ltd, was liquidated owing £189,121, which included £98,944 to the taxman and £48,000 on an overdrawn directors loan account. Derek and Kate were both personally owed £24,000 each by the business.

In January, it was reported that Kate may have to sell the home to repay the debts with one source saying: 'It is so sad for Kate. Not only has she had to watch her beloved husband suffer for almost four years but her financial worries have never been far away from her thoughts.

'It has cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to look after Derek and do everything she could to get him better but it's left her struggling.

'The house is about all she has left financially and she is now facing up to the fact it might have to be sold.

'It's where she and Derek were so happy and also where her two children grew up – but bills are bills and they have to be paid. It's dreadful for Kate.'

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EXCLUSIVE
Revealed: Three companies owned by Kate Garraway and Derek Draper went bust before his death with debts of more than £2m

Former political lobbyist Derek died in January at the age of 56 from Covid-19 complications, almost four years after he was taken ill with the respiratory virus.

Following his death, Kate revealed she ended up in debts of between £500,000 and £800,000 while trying to fund her husband's round-the-clock medical care.

While it was later revealed she also had been saddled with a £700,000 tax bill and was ordered by liquidators to pay £32,000 for closing Derek's psychotherapy company, as well as 40 per cent of assets recovered.

She previously revealed that Derek's £16,000-a-month care costs eclipsed her GMB salary, admitting last year she couldn't even afford to have the heating on in October.

Speaking before her husband's death, Kate said: 'Derek's care costs more than my salary from ITV and that is before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids, so we are at a crunch point.

'I am in debt. I can't earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek's care and I can't even use the money I do have to support Derek's recovery, because it's going on the basics all the time.'

In May this year, Kate candidly revealed she's resorted to withdrawing money from her pension pot to pay the huge bills during a discussion about the NHS and private care on GMB.

Sharing the results of a survey that revealed one in five Brits are getting themselves into debt while funding private medical care, she admitted: 'I am doing something similar myself.

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Kate Garraway admits she's in 'survival mode' as she faces up to £800,000 debt for late husband Derek Draper's care

'I have had to withdraw the bit you can tax free from my pension to pay for belated bills for my husband, who has now passed away.

'People are having to do things - it wasn't a huge pension in the first place - which aren't what they saved for.'

The Good Morning Britain star has also opened up about her plans for her first Christmas without Derek, as she admitted it would be 'difficult'.

However, she said although the festive period will bring pain, she is also looking forward to shaping 'new memories' alongside her children Darcey, 18, and Billy, 15.

She told Woman & Home's December issue: 'This Christmas will be difficult, as all the firsts are, but I've said to the kids, 'Let's do what feels right, do some new things and make new memories.'

'You've got to try and let things evolve into new memories, and I'm going to be led by them.'

MailOnline has approached Kate's representatives for comment.