Kate Garraway showed stoic power with three signs & revealed moment she needed protection, body language expert says

KATE Garraway showed "stoic" power with three signs and revealed a moment she needed protection as she returned to host GMB, a body language expert has said.

The TV presenter was back at work on Thursday to present the ITV breakfast show after taking a leave of absence following husband Derek Draper's death on January 3 aged 56.

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During the show, Kate said it was "lovely" to be back at the desk alongside co-host Ben Shephard but admitted feeling "wobbly".

However body language expert Judi James claimed Kate, 56, wanted to make Ben and viewers "feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible".

She said: "Kate's gestural rituals during the first few minutes of her return to GMB told everything about her determination to show not just strength but also empathy.

"The suggestion was that she is aware of the difficulty other people have when it comes to knowing how to react to someone who has been bereaved and rather than focusing on her own feelings, her body language looked all about making Ben and the viewers feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

"As the camera moved in there was one telling gesture of a return to work as she smoothed her skirt with her left hand in a 'launch' gesture.

"She took the action straight to Ben though by turning to look at him and claiming 'I've interrupted you already' in an instant ice-breaker, making him laugh as she waved her pen at him.

"Kate's line was 'Just treat me normally' and her winding gestures with her hands mimed cranking the show up to their usual level of performance."

She might need maximum self-protection when people are being kind.

Judi JamesBody language expert

Yet Judi also argued that Kate possibly needs "maximum self-protection" when people express their sympathies about her husband's death which she demonstrated by folding her arms.

"She did listen while Ben took a more sympathetic tone but she folded her arms very firmly as he started with 'Lovely to have you here', as though she might need maximum self-protection when people are being kind," she continued.

"Kate raised both hands out and held them waggling palms-flat to the camera with her fingers spiked to emphasise her message of not wanting to be emotionally overwhelmed or treated differently."

Judi added: "She used a conducting gesture to try to rally fans' responses and then she performed two strong signals of being back and being professional as she laid her hands flat on her notes with a one shoulder shrug and a mouth shrug to suggest 'the show must go on'.

"There were plenty of subtler cues to show the grief that she is suppressing, like her closed eye cut-off, he fiddling with her collar, the wringing gesture with her hands and her self-hug gesture where she pulled her elbows into her waist, but Kate's determination to be professional and stoic and her thoughts for everyone else's feelings showed her high levels of emotional bravery."

It comes after Kate returned to host GMB following an emotional appearance on the programme on Monday.

She discussed how her children have been handling the loss of their father.

"The make-up girls had me in tears this morning just by saying hello," Kate said at the beginning of the programme.

"Thank you to all of you at home as well. I know I mentioned it on Monday, but you have been incredible."

Co-host Ben joked he would give Kate a bit of "leeway" before saying she did her husband proud with the "extraordinary funeral".

"You really did Derek proud, it was an extraordinary thing," he said.

Kate said: "I definitely wanted to make it about Derek, not about me.

"It was really lovely as well to feel so much love from everybody here."

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