celeb interview
New This Morning host Ben Shephard on his latest TV challenge and decades-long friendship with Kate Garraway
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With his boyish charm, it’s hard to believe that This Morning’s new golden boy Ben Shephard has been a TV favourite and a mainstay in our homes for nearly three decades. Typifying English manners with an Essex charm (he hails from the county), Ben, 49, helps guests open up about their most personal stories.
In February, the broadcaster made one of his biggest career moves to date – leaving Good Morning Britain for This Morning after ten years. And Ben has been the first to admit that his new adventure has been bittersweet as he leaves behind his GMB co-star and best friend, Kate Garraway. The pair began working together nearly 25 years ago and, as Kate, 57, navigated her late husband Derek Draper’s health following his contraction of Covid in 2020, Ben – who has been married to wife Annie for 20 years – has remained resolutely by her side.
So it feels fitting that, as Bella caught up with him at The Variety Club Showbusiness Awards, Ben was full of nothing but praise and admiration for his “work wife”, who was presented with a gong for her Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting. As he chats about getting to grips with his new role alongside Cat Deeley, the dad-oftwo reflects on his memories with Kate as they both mark the start of a new path.
You’ve been hosting with Kate for over two decades. What is it like to work with such an amazing woman and broadcaster?
You don’t work at the top of your game without being authentically you, and no one is more authentic than Kate. I think the last four years since 2020… Suddenly we had my brilliant friend going through the worst situation that any of us experienced ourselves.
The only reason she was able to do what she did so extraordinarily was because she was her authentic self. Those three documentaries she did about Derek will stand the test of time and they shifted the dial of what people were talking about. She is an incredible friend and a broadcaster.
Every single day she went through that and she came into work with a smile on her face and with energy to tell the story of what was happening that day. There is nobody I have ever worked with like Kate. She is one of my best friends. She can’t organise herself out of a paper bag at times, but I can guarantee she will always leave you with a massive smile on your face.
What are your best memories from your early times working with Kate?
Everybody has a Kate Garraway story. The first time I got to work with her was at GMTV. I was an entertainment reporter and Kate was one of the hosts. We had gone to Cannes for the week and on the last night Kate threw herself into it with gusto! She
