It follows fears that the GMB presenter may have to sell her London homeThree firms owned by Kate Garraway and her late husband Derek Draper went bust owing more than £2million before his death, MailOnline can reveal.
Derek's company Astra Aspera Ltd which he set up in 2021 went into liquidation in March 2022, owing £716,822 to HMRC and £196,548 to four other creditors. The report states: 'HMRC has submitted a preferential claim in the liquidation of £716,822 and the claims are under review.' Derek fell ill and was left predominantly bed-bound in March 2020 as Covid 19 swept across the world causing businesses to shut down and the economy to slow down drastically.
The company's debts included £88,486 owed to HMRC, £90,882 to trade creditors, £462,808 in 'third party loans', £235,074 to an inter-company creditor and £45,557 in director's loans. Former political spin doctor Derek also had other debts from his time studying an MA in clinical psychology from 2001 to 2004 at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California
READ MORE - This will be valiant Derek Draper's lasting legacy for those cared for at home as his widow Kate Garraway shares poignant footage Companies House records reveal Kate still has her own personal media firm Praespero 100 Ltd in 2021. It has filed one set of accounts which reveal it had £36,888 in reserves up to 30 November 2022.
Derek who died in January this year aged 56 had implied on his personal website that he'd studied at the world famous Berkeley campus at the University of California until he was outed by The Guardian. Kate said: '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?'
'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. Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, will air on ITV , chronicling the former political lobbyist's final year of life before his death in January aged 56 She said that he felt like a 'failure and a burden' on his loved ones due to the extent of is care, having been left incontinent, unable to walk and barely able to speak.