For many years, it was almost impossible for Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway to find a way to smile as she nursed her late husband Derek Draper.
But after striking up a close friendship with fellow broadcaster Liam Halligan, it appears to no longer be a problem for her.
Ms Garraway beamed with joy as she joined the former GB News economics and business editor at the Herne Hill velodrome in South London to wave him off to take part in the Duchenne Dash, a bike ride to Paris.
They were seen giggling before posing for a photograph together on Friday. Ms Garraway was also seen taking her own pictures of Mr Halligan – a friend of Mr Draper’s who she has known for 20 years – on her mobile phone.
Onlookers told how deliriously happy the mother-of-two looked but also spotted how she has now swapped both her wedding and engagement rings from her left hand to her right as she navigates moving on from Mr Draper.
Friends say that Ms Garraway, 59, initially took the rings off for a challenge when she was filming Celebrity Traitors last year and decided to put them on the same fingers on her other hand.
‘Kate always wants Derek close by,’ said the pal. ‘She thought about putting the rings on a necklace and when she was on The Traitors and had to remove them, although it was a wrench, she decided that was the time to take them from her wedding hand for good.’
The Daily Mail first revealed that Ms Garraway and Mr Halligan – a father-of-three – had grown close after they spent the weekend in his home town of Saffron Walden in Essex four weeks ago.
Kate Garraway pictured with her new boyfriend Liam Halligan in London, two years after husband Derek Draper died
Halligan was embarking on a cycle ride and Kate showed up to support him
The were seen giggling before posing for a photograph together on Friday
She was seen ‘getting cosy’ with him at The Railway Arms pub – where he was performing with his band, The Hooligans.
While Ms Garraway is yet to confirm that she is in a relationship with Mr Halligan, she ‘loves his company’ and he makes her laugh ‘a lot,’ say friends.
She is understood to be keen for their friendship to turn into a relationship though acknowledges it is ‘complicated’ since former political lobbyist and psychotherapist Mr Draper died of a cardiac arrest in January 2024 after becoming seriously ill with Covid in March 2020
Ms Garraway had cared for him at their north London home, where she still lives with their children Darcey, 20, and Billie, 16.
‘It’s still going in the right direction,’ says a friend. ‘It’s all very exciting and Kate is very giddy. It is just so lovely for her friends and family to see.
‘She will never, never stop loving Derek and is still grieving but she is finding a way to be happy and it’s adorable to watch.
‘Liam is a very, very charming man and he has Kate in stitches. Both really want this friendship to blossom into something else.’
Mr Halligan, 57, a columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, is separated from his partner, journalist Lucy Ward.
Garraway was also seen taking her own pictures of Halligan -who she has known for 20 years – on her mobile phone
Halligan, 57, a columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, is separated from his partner, journalist Lucy Ward
The Daily Mail first revealed that Garraway and Halligan – a father-of-three – had grown close after they spent the weekend in his home town of Saffron Walden in Essex four weeks ago
Garraway is yet to confirm that she is in a relationship with Halligan
Garraway pictured with her husband Derek Draper, who died two years ago
They have a son and two daughters, Maeve and Ailis, who play along with him in his band.
Read More
Kate Garraway cosies up to her broadcaster friend Liam Halligan after ‘growing close’
In December last year, Ms Garraway discussed her dating prospects following the tragic loss of her husband – who she married in September 2005.
Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast, Ms Garraway revealed she was ready to have romance in her life again. She also indicated she was looking for ‘any single dads’.
Ms Garraway said: ‘I wouldn’t like to think that I’d never had romantic love in my life again. I think that would be rather a sad way to go through life, wouldn’t it? But, no, I’m not there yet. I don’t know if anybody would want me.’
She then teased: ‘Talk to your mates, find out if any of their dads are single. That’s your task, Jamie.’
But Ms Garraway revealed that she was not interested in using a dating app, adding: ‘I’m of the old school where you lived life, did things you loved and then met people along the way. But maybe that doesn’t happen any more.’
