KATE Garraway has told how she initially refused to carry a coffin during The Celebrity Traitors — as it reminded her of the death of husband Derek Draper.
The TV host, 58, says she gasped at the idea and found it triggering.
And in scenes not aired by the BBC, she was counselled by star pals Alan Carr and Celia Imrie as well as show executives.
After seeing Charlotte Church and Paloma Faith struggling to carry the coffin without her, Kate swallowed her fears and stepped up to take part in the dark and dramatic stunt in episode two.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, she said: “You don’t know what’s coming next and so you find yourself walking on by the coffins.
“And I did a double-take, I gasped, and I was walking with Alan and Celia was in front of me.
READ MORE CELEBRITY TRAITORS
“And I said, ‘God, I don’t know whether I should carry this coffin’.
“And I had a chat with the production team who checked on me all the time. You know, there was a psychologist there.
“But you’re suddenly in the moment and I said, ‘I’m not sure. I think it’s a bit strange and a bit weird’.”
Kate, who was banished from the star-spangled murder mystery on Thursday night, admits she also worried how her children Darcey, 19, and Billy, 16, might feel.
Derek died in January 2024 aged 56 after nearly four years battling complications from long Covid.
Good Morning Britain host Kate’s real-life horror ended up giving her perspective as part of the group of Faithfuls charged with finding the Traitors hiding in their midst.
Kate said she’d lived real years of “genuine life or death”, adding: “You know, the first two years was daily, was Derek going to live or die?
“So I think when you’ve lived with that for real, actually, it’s easier to see it as pantomime. I think it helped me to have a sense of perspective that perhaps the others didn’t have.”
Kate leant on Celia later in the series, too, in another moment not seen on screen.
She said: “Celia and I had a very intense conversation about being a woman growing older, being a parent in a situation where, you know, Derek isn’t around.
“And she gave me such brilliant, perceptive advice. I really have been trying to live by that.”
She added: “I’ve cried more since the Traitors about pure missing Derek than before.”
Kate has also gained a whole new fan base, with youngsters laughing at her overuse of the word “flabbergasted”.
She laughed: “I’ve been on holiday this week for half-term and we were in one of those lazy rivers.
“And this bunch of 12-year-olds, younger actually, were all going, ‘I’m flabbergasted. I’m flabbergasted’.
“So it’s fantastic. I just think I’ve created a whole generation of flabbergasted tweens and long may it reign.”
One in four British adults are now watching The Celebrity Traitors, which concludes next Thursday.
