11 August 2023 , 09:10
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Ever since Annabel Croft was announced as the 14th celebrity to join Strictly Come Dancing 2023, fans of the BBC reality show have been eager to know everything there is about the renowned British tennis pro.
The retired athlete has had a difficult time of late, having lost her husband Mel Coleman, to cancer three months ago. Annabel released a statement shortly after the death of the yachtsman, telling the media that she and her family "are completely heartbroken" by his passing before requesting "privacy at this very sad time." The devastating update came not long after the 57-year-old and Mel, who died aged 60, had renovated a dilapidated van and embarked on a series of trips around Europe together.
Annabel met her future husband in the mid 1980s in Guernsey, after being invited to travel to the Channel Island to shoot a BBC programme on yacht racing with Eamonn Holmes and Peter Skellern. Mel, who had recently returned from Australia after participating in the Americas Cup, was one of the yachtsmen involved in the production. The pair's romance blossomed when the cameras shut off, with Annabel and Mel bonding over evening dinners at the local pub after shooting had wrapped up for the day.
Annabel Croft and her husband Mel Coleman met during filming a show for the BBC
Annabel Croft married Mel Coleman in 1992"I remember thinking, gosh this is really fun and normal, and I want a bit more of this rather than getting up and putting on a tracksuit and stressing about whether my backhand is working today," she said in 2021.
Annabel and Mel married in a church ceremony in St. Martin’s Church in Kent in 1992, six years after they first met. Nine months after their honeymoon, the newlyweds celebrated the birth of their first child, Amber. Annabel and Mel, who resided in the leafy London borough of Wimbledon, would go on to welcome two more kids; son Charlie and daughter Lily.
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The VIP couple went into business together in April 2009, opening up a tennis academy inspired by Annabel's sporting philosophy of ‘movement and repetition’. The company would later go global, with classes being delivered as far away as the Algarve. "Mel and I still run our tennis holidays in Portugal – he concentrates on that really. It’s called an academy but it’s not high level and is perfect for holiday makers," Annabel explained in 2021.
Mel, who worked as a successful investment banker after a career as a pro yachtsman, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in March 2023 after complaining of stomach pains. Tragically, he passed away just two months later at the age of 60.
"This has come as an extreme shock to everyone," a friend of the family told GB News. "The diagnosis was out of the blue and Mel did not seem unwell at the time."