TELLY’S Kate Garraway has revealed she pursued an ADHD diagnosis after filming The Celebrity Traitors.
The Good Morning Britain host, 58, considered she may have the neurodevelopmental condition after chatting with Cat Burns on the BBC series.
Kate told The Sun on Sunday: “Talking to people like Cat about their music and about their life — she’s autistic and ADHD and I’ve got that in my family.
“And actually, I’m in the process of an ADHD diagnosis myself.
“In fact, I think it’s pretty clear I am.
“So it’s fascinating to see how it manifested for her.”
Read more on Kate Garraway
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Singer Cat, 25, said during filming: “I do have autism and ADHD so when I’m around people a lot, it takes a lot more effort. Sometimes I just need time away.”
Kate also reckons late husband Derek Draper “would’ve absolutely loved” seeing her futile efforts to weed out Traitors in the backstabbing reality show.
She added: “He would have watched, going, ‘How could you not see this?!’ ”
Kate shared a heartfelt message with the group when she made her farewell speech.
Noting her husband Derek Draper’s tragic death following long covid, she said: “I’ve had a lot of years of being very serious and very sad and you’ve all allowed me to play the most amazing game, be silly and have fun.
The 9 ‘hidden’ signs of ADHD in adults
ADHD has long been associated with naughty schoolkids who cannot sit still in class.
And that is part of it. Fidgeting, daydreaming and getting easily distracted are all symptoms of the behavioural condition, which is why it is often spotted in children.
However, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is far more complex than simply having trouble focusing.
Henry Shelford, CEO and co-founder of ADHD UK, says: “If it isn’t debilitating, it isn’t ADHD.”
In recent years, social media has given rise to trends which conflate specific personality traits or single behaviours with ADHD.
You might be thinking, ‘I’m always losing my keys, forgetting birthdays and I can never concentrate at work — I must have ADHD’. But it’s not as simple as that.
Though these may all point to the condition, Dr Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic, says: “The key distinction lies in how much a behaviour impacts a person’s daily life.
“Genuine ADHD symptoms affect multiple areas of life – work, relationships and emotional wellbeing – whereas personality traits are typically context-dependent and less disruptive.”
ADHD UK’s Henry, who has the condition himself, adds: “Having ADHD is hard. One in ten men with ADHD and one in four women with ADHD will at some point try to take their own lives.”
So how can ADHD manifest in someone’s life? While hyperactivity is a common indicator, here are nine other subtle signs:
- Time blindness – losing track of time, underestimating how long tasks will take, regularly being late or excessively early
- Lack of organisation – a messy home, frequently misplacing items, forgetting deadlines
- Hyperfocus – becoming deeply engrossed in activities for hours
- Procrastination – feeling overwhelmed by to-do lists and struggling to determine what needs your attention first so focusing on less important tasks
- Heightened emotions – emotional struggles can manifest in angry outbursts, feeling flooded with joy or shutting down because you feel too much at once
- Being a ‘yes man’ – agreeing to new projects at work or dinner dates with friends when you’re already busy (a desire to please)
- Impatience – interrupting people mid-conversation, finding it painful to stand in a queue, being overly-chatty
- Restlessness – tapping, pacing, fidgeting or feeling restless on the inside
- Easily distracted – by external things, like noises, or internal things like thoughts
