Kate Garraway shares moment she became ‘instantly addicted’ to disposable vapes
The government has announced plans to ban single-use vapes in England
Watch: Kate Garraway shares moment she became ‘instantly addicted’ to disposable vapes
Kate Garraway has spoken candidly about how addictive disposable vapes are, as the government has announced plans to ban them in England from June 2025.
Discussing the upcoming ban on Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Thursday 24 October, Garraway said she first started using refillable vapes after the birth of her son Billy 15 years ago.
She credited the vape for helping her quit smoking cigarettes. "I thought it was amazing because it didn’t smell, and at that point, you could do it anywhere. Everybody said it was better for you and I did feel much better.
"I didn’t have a cough or anything like that. I got the nicotine hit." Garraway said she gave up vaping in 2019 before taking part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and was managing her nicotine cravings with chewing gums and sprays.
However, she revealed that her addiction to vaping was sparked again last summer after she came across "props" in the GMB studio.
"I think we had some props in here or something ridiculous, and I picked it up and I was instantly addicted, like beyond anything!" Garraway recalled.
"I couldn’t believe it and it made me realise how, particularly those disposable ones, are so addictive."
The presenter also recalled how her late husband Derek Draper warned her against vaping. Explaining how Draper “hated” smoking, she said: "I can remember Derek funnily enough saying, when I said, ‘Oh I think this is good’, because he hated smoking in all forms, he said, ‘It took 200 years to discover tobacco was bad for you, these are going to be bad for you’."
Garraway said disposable vapes are addictive because they are "so easy to do, and they deliver such a hit". She added that she was unsure that banning them was a solution, but acknowledged that vapes "are everywhere".
Addressing her and Draper’s two teenage children, Darcey, 17, and Billy, 15, who she said would be watching the show, Garraway said: "This is not a sanction! I hated myself for it."
The government’s decision to ban the sale of disposable vapes in England comes as the use of vapes in the UK is estimated to have grown by 400% from 2012 to 2023. It is thought that 9.1% of the population buys and uses vapes.
Vaping has been linked to health risks such as lung and heart disease. Doctors have warned that it may cause long-term damage to the lungs, hearts and brains of young people due to the number of chemicals and nicotine in them.
While e-cigarettes and vapes are still recommended for people who are trying to quit smoking cigarettes, it is not recommended that anyone who does not smoke start vaping.
Experts are also concerned that vaping poses a threat to children and teenagers, as the number of young people buying vapes has grown. It is illegal to sell vapes to under-18s, but health charity Action on Smoking and Health found that the number of 11 to 17-year-olds who vaped doubled from 4% in 2020 to 8% in 2023.
Disposable vapes are also bad for the environment, and have contributed to a "flood of litter on our streets", according to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). They are not rechargeable or refillable, and recycling them is a "slow and difficult process which will struggle to keep up with the pace of vape production".
Read more about vaping:
What vaping does to your body as UK moves to ban disposable vapes (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
One million in England now vape despite never having been regular smokers (The Independent, 3-min read)
Young Londoners least likely to vape as disposable ban to come into force next summer (The London Standard, 2-min read)
