Kate Garraway in tears as she recalls laying 4 places at the table to serve Derek his favourite meal after coming home

KATE Garraway was in tears this morning as she recalled the emotional moment she lay four places at the table after her husband Derek returned home.

The presenter told Good Morning Britain she served up the 53-year-old's favourite meal - a homemade casserole - on his second night back with her and their two children, Billy and Darcey.

"There have been so many little lovely moments," said an emotional Kate about Derek coming home, which The Sun revealed last night.

"I have been saying this whole time to him, 'when you get home you can have one of my casseroles.'

"He loves them by the way, that's not a threat.

"He can swallow a bit now so I said 'ok let's see if we can somehow get you round the table with all four of us and we managed to do that.

"When I was laying out the plates I realised I was laying out four and... it makes me cry now...

"It feels like the start of a huge chapter, but a really, really big and important one."

It comes as...

• Kate Garraway’s stricken husband is back home after more than a year in hospital fighting Covid.
• Derek has been confirmed as Britain’s longest surviving Covid hospital patient.
• He uttered his first word in October — which was “pain” - but is now "responding regularly".
• His family has been warned that he still faces a “long and gruelling” fight to full health.
• Derek, 53, burst into tears after being reunited with his children this week for the first time in four months.
• Kate's emotional GMB co-star Ben Shephard broke down on live TV today after Derek's return.

Derek has been taken off all machines but will continue to receive round-the-clock care at the family’s adapted property in North London.

Celebrating his return 48 hours ago, Kate came on Good Morning Britain to update viewers on Derek's coronavirus battle.

The family has been warned that he still faces a “long and gruelling” fight to full health.

But presenter Kate, 53, daughter Darcey, 15, and son Billy, 11, are thrilled to have him home - and haven't stopped giving him cuddles.

She also told of the emotional moment Derek burst into tears as he was reunited with his kids.

Kate said: “As we pulled up [to the house], I could see two little faces of Darcey and Billy looking out of the window and I could literally see them go, ‘He’s here!’ They ran out and opened the door.

"He immediately burst into tears, there was a lot of hugging and got him inside. He absolutely knew he was home. 

“He is responding all the time. What he’s not able to do is talk and say, like you might imagine Derek might say on coming home, ‘Why the hell is the place such a mess?’. It’s not like that. But he’s absolutely responding and aware where he is."

Kate continued: “They’ve both just not stopped cuddling him and actually it was a very late night… all lying in a bed, I came back downstairs to sleep in the same room as Derek.

"Bill said, and Darcey agreed, they both just said, ‘Mum, he is home, let’s just take that in, he’s home’ and I said, ‘Yes, he is, that’s great’. They’re just delighted he’s home. I’m trying to balance the emotions of the next stage.

“We’ve got to stay positive and have hope. We’ll get there. He’s here!” 

Former political spin doctor-turned-psychologist Derek has been confirmed as Britain’s longest surviving Covid hospital patient.

He was admitted with breathing difficulties on March 30 last year.

After being put on a ventilator, he spent months in a form of coma called PDOC — Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness.

In October, Derek uttered his first word — which heartbreakingly was “pain” — to express his discomfort.

Kate revealed that his body had been ravaged by the virus.

Doctors reported that he had been “universally affected” — meaning his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas had all been hit by Covid.

And, at his worst, hospital staff feared Derek may remain in a semi-vegetative state forever.

The Sun revealed that Kate — who has bravely continued working throughout much of her husband’s illness — has spent thousands of pounds adapting their home for his return.

She also faces medical bills running into the tens of thousands as Derek fights to get back to full fitness.

He is understood to be sleeping downstairs in a hospital bed, and will use a makeshift wet room for showering.

Last month a moving ITV documentary, Finding Derek, left viewers in tears as cameras showed him smiling during a FaceTime call for the first time since falling ill.

Due to strict Covid regulations, neither Kate, the kids nor Derek’s elderly parents have been allowed to visit him much in hospital.

She said today: “You saw in the documentary, there have been improvements in autumn, he’s using more words, and there are more things that he can do now.

"He’s got some more movement in his hands, he can show emotion. But it felt as though everything had stalled medically and if anything was going slightly back.

"Obviously within the very necessary Covid restrictions that are in place, I couldn’t visit, family couldn’t visit, even some of the therapeutic things we would want to do to help him move forward couldn’t happen, so taking all that into account, they said, ‘Right let’s give this a go, let’s get him home safely.’

"So it does feel a little bit like the hospital has come home with me at the moment, as we’ve got all sorts of professional people making sure everything is safe and then see how being in the family environment could help.”

She added: “It’s been amazing, it’s been amazing.”