Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has admitted that she is optimistic about her husband Derek Draper's recovery after a breakthrough moment last week.

Draper holds the unwelcome record of being the UK's longest-serving patient in a hospital due to COVID-19, having been admitted seven months ago, but said his first word in a bittersweet moment - mouthing "pain" - as doctors tended to him last week.

"It is a huge breakthrough," Garraway said on an appearance on GMB this morning.

"It's obviously heartbreaking because it means he feels pain, which we don't want, but it means he's been able to connect a sensation in his body with his brain and shape that with his mouth.

"That's a long way from being Derek, with all his multiple words of colour, but it's a start isn't it?"

She continued: "What I have to be careful of is with my children and his family is not running away with it. There's still a huge road to go.

"But it's a massive, massive moment. I was getting scared that if it's hard for me, what is it like for him trapped in there?

"It feels like a fight for him. He's been able to fight out of this to utter the word pain. It would be much nicer if it has been 'I love you darling Kate' but I'm trying to think of it as the first step!"

The couple have been married for 15 years and have two children together.