Piers Morgan has defended Kate Garraway after cruel trolls accused her of ‘exploiting’ her late husband Derek Draper in the latest documentary about him.

On Tuesday, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story aired on ITV, chronicling the former political lobbyist’s final year of life before his death in January aged 56.

Filmed in May 2023, the episode, which has been praised by critics, confronted the reality of Derek’s struggles and the effect on those around him in never-before-seen images and footage.

However some criticised Kate amid the documentary’s release – leading to some of her TV pals coming to her defense.

Praising Kate on the documentary, Kate’s former GMB colleague Piers Morgan wrote on X: ‘The final @kategarraway film about her beloved Derek was heart-breaking, inspiring, and utterly maddening.

Piers Morgan has defended Kate Garraway after cruel trolls accused her of ‘exploiting’ her late husband Derek Draper in the latest documentary about him (seen also with Susanna Reid)

On Tuesday, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story aired on ITV, chronicling the former political lobbyist’s final year of life before his death in January aged 56

The most emotional moments from Kate Garraway’s ITV documentary

‘Our care system is so broken, yet staffed by so many wonderful people. Let Derek’s legacy be a wholesale reformation of the way we treat our sick/elderly. RIP Derek.’

However, one viewer replied: ‘Very sad Piers and very harrowing, but many families have had to go through the same and do not have the platform or exposure to speak out. Let this fella RIP and Kate hopefully will find peace and happiness in the future.’

Hitting back, Piers then pointed out: ‘The whole point of the film was to shine a light on the care system, and help so many others suffering from its failures.

‘Kate used her profile to magnificently powerful effect and deserves our gratitude not sniping. She’s a brilliant woman who’s been through 4yrs of utter hell.’

On Instagram, Kate received similar criticism as she shared a post promoting the documentary.

One troll said: ‘Kate Garraway keeps proclaiming to worry about showing how vulnerable Derek is, yet she does documentaries, books and endless interviews about him. Give the poor man some dignity & stop exploiting him. It’s just uncomfortable to see.’

But Kate’s Good Morning Britain co-star Susanna Reid offered her support as she commented on the post saying: ‘We love you.’

She also shared a picture with Kate on her Story branding her ‘magnificent’ and urging her followers to watch the documentary.

Elsewhere Charlotte Hawkins commented under the post with three hearts while Anthea Turner penned: ‘So much love and support to you my gorgeous courageous girl.’

Praising Kate on the documentary, Kate’s former GMB colleague Piers Morgan wrote on X: ‘The final @kategarraway film about her beloved Derek was heart-breaking, inspiring, and utterly maddening’

However, one viewer replied: ‘Very sad Piers and very harrowing, but many families have had to go through the same and do not have the platform or exposure to speak out’

Kate and Piers have been friends for years after working together on Good Morning Britain (seen on the show in 2015)

Hitting back, Piers then pointed out: ‘The whole point of the film was to shine a light on the care system, and help so many others suffering from its failures’

Among other showbiz pals, Kate’s Good Morning Britain co-star Susanna Reid offered her support as she commented on the post saying: ‘We love you’

Kate’s late husband was plagued with health woes after contracting Covid in March 2020, which saw him put in a coma, battle sepsis and left with difficulties communicating.

Derek’s Story features him talking on camera for the first time since his health battle as he admitted: ‘I want to be heard.’

In the documentary Kate also opened up about the crippling debt she accrued caring for Derek, admitting she’s at ‘crunch point’.

Faced with a debt of up to £800,000 Kate confessed: ‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that’s before you pay for a mortgage or household bills or anything for the kids – so that is a crunch point.

‘We are in debt and I can’t earn enough money to cover my debt because I’m managing Derek’s care.

‘I can’t even use the money I do have to support Derek’s recovery because it’s going to the basics all the time.

‘I’m not going to pretend I’m poorly paid but it’s not enough.

‘Time and time again the state tells us Derek is not sick enough to qualify for state funded care.

‘I’ve appealed but that still hasn’t been processed three years later. If this is what’s it like for me then what’s it like for everybody else?’

Kate continued: ‘Something has to be done or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break.

‘We are entirely reliant on extraordinary carers but the system they work for is incredibly complicated and underfunded…

‘Why is it people get sick and it’s no longer considered the right thing for them to be in hospital, why does coming home feel like falling off a cliff?’

Former Labour insider and psychotherapist Derek married presenter Kate in 2005 and they went on to welcome children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14.

In 2021, just over a year after contracting Covid, he was able to leave hospital and return to his family home in north London, with round-the-clock care.

In August 2022 he was taken to hospital with sepsis but pulled through. Then in early December 2023, Derek had a heart attack and was taken to hospital again.

Tragically, he wasn’t able to overcome the latest medical emergency and on January 5 Kate confirmed that Derek died.

Former Labour insider and psychotherapist Derek married presenter Kate in 2005 and they went on to welcome children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14

Derek had been plagued with health woes after contracting the virus in March 2020, which saw him put in a coma, battle sepsis and left with difficulties communicating (pictured 2019)

In a post on social media, she said that her husband died surrounded by family and that she was ‘holding his hand throughout the last long hours’.

She said his Covid infection had left him with lasting damage to his heart which had led to ‘further complications’.

Kate also thanked the medical teams for making his final moments as ‘comfortable and dignified as possible.’

MailOnline understands Derek passed away on Wednesday night (January 3) in a north London hospital.