Kate Garraway has been left “extremely upset” by cruel comments from trolls about her new relationship, reports claim.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that the Good Morning Britain presenter, 59, was dating economic journalist Liam Halligan, 57. Halligan was a friend of Garraway’s late husband Derek Draper, who died in January 2024 after a lengthy struggle with long Covid.
Garraway and her new man were pictured in May with their arms around one another, with Garraway last week unveiling her new relationship on social media as she reposted a group picture involving her and Halligan from a friend’s birthday on X.
Vile comments from trolls
But the post was met with sickening comments from trolls, who hurled vicious misogynistic abuse at the presenter for dating a man who she’d known for more than 20 years in the wake of Draper’s death.
According to reports, receiving such “bitter and twisted” comments has been “extremely upsetting” for Garraway, who is the parent to two children from her marriage to Draper.
“The messages are deliberately written to provoke reaction and cause distress,” a source told The Sun. “Kate deserves happiness after everything she’s been through. It’s sad there are some people who are bitter and twisted enough to try to ruin that.”
The Standard has contacted Garraway’s representatives for comment.
Relationship timeline
Garraway and Halligan were first pictured together in May, as she supported him at a charity bike ride. They then spent their first holiday together in Italy earlier this month after Garraway joined the broadcast journalist on a work trip to Europe.
Having suddenly found himself in the spotlight, Halligan opened up about his relationship with Garraway in an article for The Spectator in May.
“As a sandwich-board man of the business pages, I’m ‘flabbergasted’ to be in the showbiz sections,” he wrote. ”Nobody wanted to know about my warnings of market meltdown but reporters now follow me around, asking, ‘How’s it going with Kate?’”
“Kate Garraway and I are from different parts of the media but have much in common – not least a shared sense of humour. Though it’s early days, there’s a definite spark between us. But can she ride a tandem?”
Garraway on dating after loss
At the end of last year, Garraway had revealed that she was open to dating but “not there yet” following the death of political lobbyist Draper, who she married in 2005.
“Well, I wouldn’t like to think that I’d never [have] romantic love in my life again,” she said during an appearance on Jamie Laing’s podcast. “I think that would be rather a sad way to go through life wouldn’t it? But no, I’m not there yet. I don’t know if anybody would want me.”
