Kate Garraway has revealed her son told her she'd become a 'monster' after she became a single parent following her late husband's death. 

The TV presenter's political lobbyist husband Derek passed away in January 2024 aged 56 following four years of health struggles as one of the UK's longest-suffering Covid patients.

Since then, both her children have had important school exams, and Kate admitted she has had to crack the whip with her son Billy's GCSE's revision after allowing him to focus less on his education during the traumatic years of Derek's illness. 

Speaking on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's podcast Parenting Hell Kate explained: 'Especially with my son, because he was the younger one, certainly when Derek was first sick and was in the coma for that year, I just kind of thought "Let's just be happy".

'So I was quite bad in the sense that I was definitely sort of saying "Oh, we can't get online for that, just don't worry about that learning, let's re-watch Nativity! for the 140th time", which is one of his favourite movies.' 

She continued: 'I didn't care about it. And then I suddenly thought "Oh my God, we're now at GCSEs".

Kate Garraway's son Billy, 16, branded her a 'monster' when she forced him to focus on his GCSEs as she opened up about being a single parent in new podcast

The TV presenter's political lobbyist husband Derek passed away in January 2024 aged 56 following four years of health struggles as one of the UK's longest-suffering Covid patients

'So he found it really hard because I was going "Come on Bill, you've got to focus". He's looking at me as if to say "Why have you become a monster?" In fact he said that.

'What happened to "Come on here's some chocolate, let's watch a movie - I don't like this mummy now".'

Kate added: 'Nobody's hoping for A stars and 9s you just want them to have access to choice and to feel good about themselves.

'We all know actually that things come along in life and it's never really actually to do with passing an exam, it's to do with your attitude.

'I say "I don't really mind as long as you're enthusiastic and you get involved. Just get involved, don't fail and don't drop out because you just couldn't be bothered. And then if you keep trying stuff eventually you find something that excites you".'

As well as Billy's GCSE's, last year Kate's daughter Darcey, 19, sat her A Levels. And Kate explained she wishes her children could take turns going through crises in a 'relay' rather than have them at the same time.

Reflecting on Billy's GCSE period she said: 'That was pretty traumatic. But he's sort of got himself into a place to do what he wants to do, which is sort of music and acting. So you sort of feel like you think 'ok, alright, we're limping through gradually'.