Cover story
Almost a year since losing her beloved husband to cancer, former tennis ace Annabel Croft opens up about grief, the ‘chaos’ of motherhood and the idea of replacing Wimbledon icon Sue Barker
Two days before Annabel Croft’s early Sunday morning cover shoot, she sat down with Princess Diana’s former therapist to speak about losing her husband to cancer.
And since meeting with Julia Samuel, a psychologist and grief therapist, Annabel understands why competing in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing series was the right decision to help heal her heart.
‘She said, “You do realise that dance is one of the best things for grief?” I didn’t know that, but I can see that now, having done it,’ explains Annabel, 57, who reached the semifinal in the hit BBC1 show, alongside pro dancer Johannes Radebe.
‘You’re distracting your brain, so you’re not wallowing and sobbing all day. It doesn’t stop [grief] completely and there were times when Johannes had to cope with that, but he’s been through a lot of grief recently himself, so we were aligned.’ She adds, ‘Strictly and Johannes were my therapy.’
Former yachtsman Mel Coleman died last May at the age of 60, just 16 weeks after scans revealed that colon cancer had spread ‘everywhere’ through his body.
On location with w&h close to the Surrey home where she and Mel raised their now grown-up children, Amber, 29, Charlie, 27, and Lily, 25, Annabel points out it was ‘this time last year’, while she was covering the Australian Open, that her husband of 31 years began complaining of side pains.
‘I thought it was indigestion, then he kept saying the pains weren’t going away,’ says Annabel, describing the heartaching speed of Mel’s decline. ‘One moment we were having a normal Christmas and New Year, and then, suddenly, by May, [he was] dead.
I still find it really hard to process. It’s like it’s somebody else’s life.’
Keeping busy, Annabel says, is helping – and before starting the now-complete Strictly tour, she supported This Morning’s ‘Get Britain Walking’ campaign by taking a viewer on her and Mel’s favourite walk in Richmond Park. Soon she’ll turn her focus to Wimbledon, which she covers every summer for the BBC.
‘Before, I always wanted quiet times, and Mel and I were looking forward to retirement together. Now everything’s changed,’ she says.
Once ranked among the world’s top 25 tennis players, Annabel represented Great Britain and won two junior Grand Slams before she retired at 21. After appearing in a variety of entertainment programmes, including 80s adventure game show Treasure Hunt, she turned to tennis presenting, and last year fans called for her to replace iconic Wimbledon anchor Sue Bar
