Former tennis star Annabel Croft has shared the news that she would be “sobbing at home” if she hasn’t signed up to do Strictly Come Dancing.
The telly star, 57, admitted that her partner on Strictly Johannes Radebe has been “light” in her dark times as she deals with the grief of losing her husband Mel.
Talking to Good Morning Britain presenters Ben Shephard and Charlotte Hawkins earlier today (November 3), Annabel said that Strictly came at a “very difficult time” in her life after losing Mel to cancer.
Strictly news: Show helped Annabel with her grief
Annabel told JoJo it was “a very dark time, but you have brought so much light to my life honestly, you have been an angel, thank you”.
GMB host Charlotte then asked whether Annabel felt the experience on Strictly had helped her, to which she replied: “Oh, there is no question about it and I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have Strictly Come Dancing at this period of time.”
It is incredible and I just wish I had it in my routine all the time.
She added said that the competition became a “distraction” from the terrible grief she experienced after losing her husband, Mel, 60.
Annabel said: “So to get up in the morning and have a purpose rather than just sobbing at home, even though that still happens… To be able to move your body to get things out as well. It is incredible and I just wish I had it in my routine all the time.”
The telly star admitted that she is “quite old” now but her body is actually in the “best shape” it’s ever been. “I am quite old now, I am 57 and my body is in the best shape it has ever been. It is amazing what dance does.”
This comes after Annabel broke down in tears after she revealed plans to dance for her late husband this weekend.
Annabel’s relationship with her beloved Mel
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Annabel revealed how she met her late husband at the age of 21. She said she received a text from her mum who asked her if she would be interested in filming a BBC programme about yacht racing.
“I’d never been on a yacht before, but it ended up with me, Eamonn Holmes and Peter Skellern going off to Guernsey to shoot a programme where we learnt how to race a yacht,” she said.
“Mel, who had just got back from Australia after the America’s Cup, was one of the yachtsmen and that is how we met,” she added.
Mel died in May, just 16 weeks after receiving his cancer diagnosis.
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