Brenda Edwards has praised Kate Garraway for her strength and bravery in returning to work so soon after losing her husband Derek.
Edwards joined Kate, 56, and stand-in co-host Robert Rinder, 45 on Good Morning Britain on Friday (March 1). Edwards herself also appeared alongside daughter Tanisha to remember the life of her son Jamal, who tragically passed away suddenly in February 2022.
Kicking off the interview on the ITV show, Brenda immediately spoke of her joy at seeing Garraway again. “I just want to say, it’s so good to see you back here,” Edwards gushed.
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“You are such an inspiration to me, watching you as well,” Brenda added. “I know how you feel, what you’re going through and I know how hard it is.”
(Image: ITV)
From the outset of the interview, it was clear that Loose Women star Brenda was still emotional about her son’s death, which was ruled to have been caused by cardiac arrhythmia triggered through the use of drugs. The former musician and DJ had been at a gig in North London just one day before he suddenly died, leading to a wave of tributes from famous faces, including future King Charles.
Kate, who returned to the show last month following the tragic death of her husband Derek Draper, said she empathised with Brenda, as she marked two years from Jamal’s passing. She also described the journey of grief as “a strange journey” that she now understands following Derek’s death.
“Two years feels like a strange journey, doesn’t it?” Kate asked. “I say this because somebody said to me the other day that the second year is the hardest.
(Image: ITV)
“And I thought, ‘The second year, I was sort of hoping things would get better after a few weeks or a few months,” she added. Brenda replied saying: “It is, the second year seemed to be even harder than the first year, and the first year is still very vivid to me, I can remember it like yesterday.”
Later on in the interview, Brenda added that despite the grief, she was still able to remember everything and that nothing was a “blur” to her as the family tried to move on following Jamal’s passing. “It’s not a blur, but it’s nice that it’s at the forefront because that’s really driving myself and Tanisha to just carry on doing what we’re doing,” she confessed.
Following his death, Brenda and Tanisha have made sure that Jamal’s legacy in discovering new musical talent is continued. The mother and daughter duo set up a trust fund so that people from underrepresented communities can have a shot at being fostered into the music scene.
(Image: ITV)
Speaking on the initiative, Brenda beamed: “We are creating 31 work placements for underrepresented young people, people from the care system who were just left on their own. So we have created these placements with companies that Jamal loved to work with, as well as a youth sanctuary to help house young people battling homelessness.”
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday at 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
