ON 10 February 2008 we published articles on our front page entitled “Kate and Anton…a late tango” and on pages 4 and 5 entitled “Strictly Friends” together with photographs of Kate Garraway and Anton du Beke. Although we did not expressly say that they were having an affair we now accept that the article alleged that Kate was betraying her husband, Derek Draper, by having an affair with Anton.
Kate had denied this allegation prior to publication and we accept that any allegation that Kate and Anton were having an affair and that she was being unfaithful to Derek was false and without foundation. We apologise to Kate for the distress caused and have agreed to pay her substantial damages and her legal costs.
The apology is not online, but the Sunday Mirror’s sister paper has a story about the apology:
GMTV presenter Kate Garraway won libel damages on Thursday from a newspaper that falsely claimed she was having an affair with her dance instructor on the BBC show “Strictly Come Dancing”.
Garraway, 39, accepted an apology and an undisclosed six-figure sum from the publishers of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror at the High Court in London.
Her lawyer Rachel Atkins told the court that the tabloids alleged Garraway cheated on her husband, the former political lobbyist Derek Draper, with dancer Anton Du Beke.
Judge David Eady heard that one article appeared under the headline “Kate + Anton - A Late Tango”.
“Contrary to the allegations, the claimant and her husband are and were as faithful, happy and in love at the time of the publication as they had ever been,” Atkins told the court.
“The plain truth was that the claimant and Anton Du Beke became friends during ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Since then they often worked and spent time together.”The judge ordered the Mirror’s publisher to apologise and pay damages to the couple, who were in court together to hear the result…
