Good Morning Britain viewers were left ‘wincing’ as Kate Garraway made a ‘disrespectful and insensitive’ joke at the worst possible time.

Thursday’s episode of the ITV breakfast news show saw the presenter, 58, with co-host Adil Ray, 51, report a particularly sad story to viewers.

It was about British grandmother Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who sadly died from rabies this week.

Kate explained: ‘Did you see this extraordinary story about a woman, she was scratched very slightly by a stray dog whilst on holiday in February, that long ago, in Morocco.

‘It wasn’t even a particularly bad one at the time. It didn’t seem to be infected. Then two weeks ago, she started to feel very unwell, has now passed away.’

Before making an ill-timed quip, she added: ‘It’s made people very conscious because rabies is something we don’t think about very much. It is astonishing.’

Thursday's episode of the ITV breakfast news show saw the presenter (pictured), 58, with co-host Adil Ray, 51, report a particularly sad story to viewers
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Thursday’s episode of the ITV breakfast news show saw the presenter (pictured), 58, with co-host Adil Ray, 51, report a particularly sad story to viewers

It was about British grandmother Yvonne Ford (pictured), 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who sadly died from rabies this week
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It was about British grandmother Yvonne Ford (pictured), 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who sadly died from rabies this week

It came as she mentioned TV doctor Hilary Jones (pictured on Lorraine in May last year), 72, who often appears on the show for health and wellbeing segments
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It came as she mentioned TV doctor Hilary Jones (pictured on Lorraine in May last year), 72, who often appears on the show for health and wellbeing segments

It came as she mentioned TV doctor Hilary Jones, 72, who often appears on the show for health and wellbeing segments.

She said: ‘I mean, what the doctors say, if I can do my Dr Hilary at the moment for a bit, is make sure you get an inoculation.

‘But also, if you have any kind of scratch from any kind of wild animal or animal abroad, get treatments right away, because then it can be stopped.’

Rabies – which is passed on through injuries such as bites and scratches from an infected animal – is nearly always fatal.

It typically takes between three to 12 weeks for symptoms to show but can also take longer in some cases.

Viewers picked up on Kate’s jokey reference to pretending to be Dr Hilary and felt the tone was not tasteful given the nature of the story.

One wrote on X: ‘Classy Kate cracking a rabies joke just after reporting on a rabies death.’

Someone replied: ‘Noticed that too – made me wince. So insensitive.’

Kate said: 'I mean, what the doctors say, if I can do my Dr Hilary at the moment for a bit, is make sure you get an inoculation'
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Kate said: ‘I mean, what the doctors say, if I can do my Dr Hilary at the moment for a bit, is make sure you get an inoculation’

Viewers picked up on Kate's jokey reference to pretending to be Dr Hilary and felt the tone was not tasteful given the tragic nature of the story

Viewers picked up on Kate’s jokey reference to pretending to be Dr Hilary and felt the tone was not tasteful given the tragic nature of the story

‘Did Kate Garraway just make an attempted joke about rabies after talking about the sad death of the lady from Barnsley?’, one user questioned in disbelief.

Another commenter responded to them: ‘Yes! I actually rewound it to make sure I’d heard right!’

Someone else weighed in: ‘Is this a new trend for your presenters to be disrespectful to people that have just died?

‘Lorraine Kelly about Kim Woodburn yesterday then Kate Garraway this morning just before 7am about the poor lady that’s just died after contracting rabies!’

They were referring to ITV viewers being left fuming earlier this week at the ‘disgraceful’ way Lorraine Kelly announced Kim Woodburn’s death.

The presenter, 65, appeared unmoved as she reported on Lorraine earlier this week that the beloved cleaning star, 83, had died on Monday.

As her ITV chat show came back after an ad break, Lorraine said to viewers, as a picture of Kim appeared on-screen: ‘Welcome back!

‘Some news just breaking in the last few minutes. Kim Woodburn, who I’m sure you know, well, she’s died at the age of 83.

ITV viewers were left fuming earlier this week at the 'disgraceful' way Lorraine Kelly (pictured, file photo of her presenting Lorraine) announced Kim Woodburn's death
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ITV viewers were left fuming earlier this week at the ‘disgraceful’ way Lorraine Kelly (pictured, file photo of her presenting Lorraine) announced Kim Woodburn’s death

Viewers felt the hurried, casual announcement, with Lorraine showing little emotion, was incredibly insensitive. Pictured: Kim in 2004
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Viewers felt the hurried, casual announcement, with Lorraine showing little emotion, was incredibly insensitive. Pictured: Kim in 2004

‘Famous, of course, for [Channel 4 hit series] How Clean Is Your House and her controversial time on Celebrity Big Brother [in 2017].

‘A representative for Kim said, “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness“. Right, it is ten past nine.’

Viewers felt the hurried, casual announcement, with Lorraine showing little emotion, was incredibly insensitive.

One wrote on X: ‘Lorraine, you are a disgrace, announcing the death of Kim Woodburn without a sorrow in your face!’

Meanwhile, another weighed in: ‘I’m actually shocked at the lack of empathy Lorraine showed announcing the death of Kim Woodburn.’

Someone else blasted her for showing ‘no feelings whatsoever’ about the so-called Queen of Clean’s passing.

One user also said: ‘That pathetic “tribute” from Lorraine Kelly to our Kim was an insult. She didn’t sound the least bit bothered… how disrespectful.’

It comes after Kate revealed this week she has been frozen out of her bank accounts after changing her phone handset.

It comes after Kate revealed this week she has been frozen out of her bank accounts after changing her phone handset
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It comes after Kate revealed this week she has been frozen out of her bank accounts after changing her phone handset

It is the latest financial blow for Kate who has been dealing with debt following her husband Derek Draper's death (Derek and Kate in 2019)
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It is the latest financial blow for Kate who has been dealing with debt following her husband Derek Draper’s death (Derek and Kate in 2019)

The presenter reached out to Barclays bank on social media on Tuesday in a desperate plea for help.

Kate said she has been unable to access either her current or savings account since Friday and has not been able to speak to anyone in customer service.

She wrote on X: ‘@Barclays please please get in touch with me – I have not been able to access any of my Barclays accounts current or savings since Friday due to changing my phone handset and can’t get through to anyone on customer service – please DM me.’

Kate’s message did not go unanswered this time and a customer service rep responded to her through the Barclays X account.

They wrote: ‘Could you please pop into our DMs with your full name, postcode, contact number and we can take it from there together.

‘I’ve popped a link on this message that will take you through to us in DM.

‘If you do have any other questions then please do let me know as we are here 24/7 for you. Thank you!’

It is the latest financial blow for Kate who has been dealing with debt following her husband Derek Draper’s death.

The presenter has openly discussed how she has been left with debts between £500,000 and £800,000 after caring for her late husband.

Political lobbyist Derek died at the age of 56 in January 2024 following a four-year battle with long Covid, with Kate paying £16,000 a month on his care.

Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITV1 weekdays from 6am to 9am and to stream on ITVX.