Annabel Croft opens up on how Strictly 'distracted' star from 'dark thoughts' amid grief of husband's death

Annabel Croft opens up on how Strictly 'distracted' star from 'dark thoughts' amid grief of husband's death

WATCH: Annabel Croft on how Strictly has helped with grief

ITV
Alex Davies

By Alex Davies


Published: 07/10/2023

- 06:00

The Strictly star's husband Mel Coleman died earlier this year following his cancer diagnosis

Annabel Croft has bravely spoken out on how her stint on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing is helping her process grief.

Croft, 57, lost her husband Mel Coleman - with whom she shared children Charlie, Amber and Lilly - to cancer earlier this year at the age of 60, just weeks after he was first diagnosed.


The pair met when Croft was just 21 and were married for over three decades prior to his death.

Coleman and Croft met on the set of a TV show back in the 1980s alongside GB News' very own Eamonn Holmes - which the trio reminisced about in one of Coleman's final TV appearances.

Croft touched upon how much of a fan her late husband was of Strictly after she was paired with Johannes Radebe in the launch show and has now spoken out on the impact the show has had on her in her time of grief.

The former tennis star bravely shared: "It's been a nice distraction is a good word from grief.

Annabel Croft and husband Mel Coleman

Annabel Croft's husband Mel Coleman died earlier this year

GETTY

"It's been nice to do something joyful and use my body and try to sort of rest my brain from thinking too many dark thoughts," she said.

During the interview with Lorraine Kelly earlier this week, Croft once again paid tribute to dance partner Radebe for his comforting tutelage.

Croft and Radebe will perform again on Saturday evening after already impressing with their first two routines of the series.

They kicked off their time on the show by performing a Cha Cha to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel and managed to avoid the first dreaded dance-off of the series thanks to their Quickstep.

In the end it was Les Dennis who was the first Strictly star sent packing after failing to impress with dance partner Nancy Xu.

Croft's Movie Week routine and dance has been confirmed prior to Saturday evening's show and it sounds like she and Radebe will face yet another tough test.

For Week Three, the duo will dance the Waltz to Moon River from the classic big-screen flick Breakfast at Tiffany's.

While Strictly fans will undoubtedly be excited to see how Croft and Radebe get on, a number have been left perturbed about another routine allocated to one of Croft's fellow competitors.

WATCH HERE: Strictly unveils Week Three songs and dances 

Some fans have accused the BBC show of "stitching up" pro dancer Gorka Marquez thanks to the complex number his celeb partner Nikita Kanda has been given for Movie Week.

The pair landed in the dance-off last week and it was only thanks to judges Shirley Ballas, Anton du Beke, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse that they remained in the contest.

Kanda is now the favourite for the second elimination of the series according to bookmakers while Croft's chances look good for her to make it to Week Four.

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