The BBC Strictly Come Dancing star Annabel Croft revealed that she will be having a very different Christmas this year. This will be her first Christmas without her husband, Mel Coleman.
In an interaction with Ranvir Singh on 18 December 2023, opened up about coping with the grief she had over this period of losing her husband.
Mel Coleman died 16 weeks after he was diagnosed with colon cancer on May 24, aged 60. Annabel is a former British tennis player and current radio and television presenter. She admitted that it would be hard for her to be celebrating in the house without her husband.
She is preparing to celebrate her first Christmas without him. She also admitted that:
It will be a bit weird this Christmas. I don’t believe we would have believed that one year later my husband would not be around. It is horrific, you do not know how to describe it, but we will try to do something different this year and just get away.
The family has not yet accepted the loss of their dearest one till now. The pair were married for 36 years and share daughters Amber and Lily and 26-year-old son Charlie. Annabel said that nobody wanted to be in the house for Christmas.
Annabel expresses her grief about her late husband
Annabel Croft said that she has been having a tough time coping with the death of her husband, whom she has loved so dearly. She revealed that it was always her husband Mel who used to cook and carve Turkey during Christmas.
In reply to Ranvir’s question, ‘Nobody wants to carve Turkey,’ Annabel said that
Well, exactly because Mel always carved the turkey and he did the ham. And he was sort of like busy bodying around in the kitchen and just enjoying a normal Christmas.
Between September and December 2023, Croft was a contestant in the twenty-first series of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. She participated in the show, partnering with the professional dancer Johannes Radebe. The couple secured the fourth place in the show.
After taking part in the show, she has been very busy, and it has helped her a lot to overcome her grief. She has been occupied by the practices and performance in Strictly Come Dancing. On celebrating this year’s Christmas, she said
I almost feel like this Christmas is a bit weird anyway . I’ve been leaving the house at 7ish every morning and being back sometimes late at night so no chance to go shopping, or Christmas shopping, so it’s a bit weird this year, but maybe that’s a good thing.
She also spoke about how getting back into the ordinary routine after Strictly. She is finding it a bit difficult to get back into her previous routine, and the show has kept her away from her grief. She says that she did not have time to remember about the life with her husband.
She also sees Strictly Come Dancing as a purpose to get out of her bed in the morning and go out for practice with her dance partner, Johannes. Her kids were the main supporting element of her dancing career in Strictly Come Dancing.
Annabel also said that her dancing partner Johannes had helped her a lot with the show and made her enjoy the experience until the last moment. She gushed about him and said he has a radiant charisma that attracts everyone to him.
He’s one of those people they walk into room and they have a light and they bring such joy. He brings laughter. He has something different. If he was a religion people would follow him.
She will be present in the 2024 live tour of Strictly Come Dancing and revealed that she is not being paired with Johannes. The former tennis player is planning to continue dancing as she gets older, as it takes away the pain of her husband’s sudden demise from her life.
