Kate Garraway reunites with Ben Shephard as she returns to Good Morning Britain

Good Morning Britain has welcomed Kate Garraway with open arms. The presenter looked delighted as she was reunited with her co-host Ben Shephard after taking four months off from the show amid her husband Derek Draper's health battle.

READ: Ben Shephard reacts to Kate Garraway's GMB return in the sweetest way

"Don't be too nice because I'll get emotional, just go back to being rude," she said upon her return. To which, Ben said: "It's lovely having you back, back to work in a long time." Kate then added: "We'll have some fun this morning, we've had a lot of emotion."

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WATCH: Kate Garraway reunites with Ben Shephard on GMB

Her long-awaited appearance comes shortly after Kate appeared on Wednesday's GMB, where she opened up about her Derek's condition with her colleagues and friends Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.

Just hours before her appearance, Kate posted a selfie from her car whilst wearing a face mask in the early hours of the morning. "Well here we go - back on @gmb with @benshephardofficial from 6 am - very much looking forward to seeing you all," she wrote in the caption.

The GMB star shared this snap before her return

The 53-year-old has understandably been keeping a low profile in recent weeks as she continues to wait for news on her critically ill husband, who has been in a coma for the past 15 weeks after contracting coronavirus in March.

Exclusive: Kate Garraway reveals husband has opened his eyes but remains in intensive care

During last week's interview, Kate revealed that doctors told her not to put her "life on hold" as Derek remains verbally unresponsive and warned her that he could persist in his current state.

Kate's husband Derek Draper has been in hospital since March

After she was asked whether Derek would want her to come back, Kate, who shares two children with her husband, replied: "Derek would not just be saying come back, he'd be saying, 'Why haven't you done it before?'

READ: Kate Garraway reveals sweet way Amanda Holden helped her

"That would be his priority. My job is to make him feel safe and make them feel that they have a future and a world and whatever happens with Derek – we hope and believe he can come back to us – but whatever happens they have to feel they have a world. To see me getting on, they're going to go back to school in September."

The GMB star is a doting mother to two children

Kate selflessly also added: "I've got to get going, I've got to come back. I don't want to make it sound like I'm Mother Teresa or anything, everyone's having to do that, I'm not special or different, everyone's having to get on with sadness and loss. If I come back we'll all be in the same boat."

MORE: Kate Garraway reveals touching way she helps children open up about their dad

Despite the difficult suffering, Kate reiterated that she wanted to be treated as "normal" as possible. She added: "Treat me as normal, be a bit rude, take the mick… I think that's part of it. Derek is a huge believer in laughing."

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