Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway reveals she had bailiffs turn up at her door while her late husband Derek Draper was in a coma in hospital
During Friday's instalment of Good Morning Britain, the presenter, 58, opened up on the tough situation she faced while her husband was stricken in hospital with a COVID-19-related illness.
Speaking to money-saving expert Martin Lewis, who is campaigning to change the way councils call in debts of unpaid council tax, she revealed: 'Martin this is extraordinary. I've experienced this you know, when Derek was in his coma.
She continued: 'In the latter half of 2020, somebody came to the door, a bailiff, it was all in Derek's name and they said: "You have to pay your years council tax plus the fines because we've been chasing you with letters."
Kate explained the reason for the bill going unpaid, was because her husband was responsible for paying the council tax.
She said she had 'no idea' it was going unpaid - otherwise, she would have paid it.
She continued: 'It was my fault, I hadn't been opening the letters in his name because my head was in another place.
'And I've experienced the speed, as what happened was six weeks between him you know finding them, because he was in a coma, he hadn't paid our council tax, to having bailiffs at the door.
'And I, of course, am in a much more fortunate position than the sort of people you're talking about.'
Following the admission, Kate was seen making her way to another job - hosting her Smooth Radio show in London.
It comes after MailOnline revealed earlier this week that Kate had suffered another financial blow amid her £800,000 debt battle.
The presenter had been frozen out of her bank accounts after changing her phone handset and reached out to Barclays Bank on social media in a desperate plea for help on Tuesday.
Kate said that she had been unable to access either her current or savings account since Friday and hadn't been able to speak to anyone in customer service.
Taking to X, she wrote: '@Barclays please please get in touch with me - I have not been able to access any of my Barclays accounts current or savings since Friday due to changing my phone handset and can't get through to anyone on customer service - please dm me.'
Kate's message didn't go unanswered this time and a customer service rep responded to her through the Barclays X account.
They wrote: 'Could you please pop into our DM's with your full name, postcode, contact number, and we can take it from there together.
'I've popped a link on this message that will take you through to us in DM. If you do have any other questions then please do let me know as we are here 24/7 for you. Thank you!'
It's the latest financial blow for Kate who has been dealing with debt following her husband Derek's death.
The presenter has openly discussed how she has been left with debts between £500,000 and £800,000 after caring for her late husband.
Political lobbyist Derek died at the age of 56 in January 2024 following a four-year battle with long Covid with Kate paying £16,000 a month for his care.
Now, a new liquidator's report has revealed the large tax costs that are yet to be paid by Derek's now-defunct psychotherapeutic company Astra Aspera.
The company, which was jointly controlled by Kate, went bust owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors, including a large bill to HMRC.
Filings on Companies House have revealed how Kate has been trying to pay off the debt, with HMRC now submitting a lower revised total in a small boost.
HMRC's latest preferential claim stands at £288,054, which is around a third of its previous 2023 submission of £716,822, according to the documents.
It is not known why HMRC dropped the payment, and the filing has claimed there are also 'insufficient funds to pay a dividend to secondary preferential creditors'.
According to The Sun, Kate has so far paid back £21,000.
Addressing the filing, Kate's spokesperson told MailOnline the 'shocked' TV star 'doesn't recognise these figures' and is in contact with HMRC to make sure she 'honours what is required'.
Their statement read: 'Kate has met all that the liquidators of Derek's company have asked for and more over the past four years.
'She doesn't recognise these figures and is shocked that it's being presented in this way by them.
'Caring for Derek and supporting her family when Derek could no longer run his own businesses has taken a huge financial toll on her but she's determined to put things right.
'She is in constant contact with HMRC to make sure she honours what's required from Derek's now-defunct company.'
Kate said that she had been unable to access either her current or savings account since Friday and hadn't been able to speak to anyone in customer service
Kate's message didn't go unanswered this time and a customer service rep responded to her through the Barclays X account
Derek battled long Covid for four years before his death and Kate has openly discussed the devastating financial toll of funding his care during that period.
When Derek wasn't in hospital, he had to be looked after 24/7 at home by his wife and a team of carers.
Derek battled long Covid for four years before his death and Kate has openly discussed the devastating financial toll of funding his care during that period.
When Derek wasn't in hospital, he had to be looked after 24/7 at home by his wife and a team of carers.
In January, Kate explained how she has been left with 'excessive un-payable debt' as she spoke about dealing with the funding of his care.
She shared: 'The family and I have been talking about the challenges we faced this time last year, one of the overriding ones, he went back into intensive care before he passed away was dealing with the funding of care.
'At the time of his death, there were two appeals that hadn't been heard for funding. It kept being pushed back and pushed back.
'In the meantime, I'm lucky I have an incredible job which is well paid. I was having to fund the situation.
'Now I've got excessive un-payable debt because of it. If I'm in that position what else are people going to be?'
In March 2024, the presenter revealed that she had been spending £16,000 a month on care for her late husband.
She told Good Morning Britain: 'I am ashamed of the fact I'm in debt. I have an incredible job that I love, that's very well paid.
'I'm not a carer travelling miles, paying their own transport to go and help somebody for minimum wage.
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