Wimbledon icon Annabel Croft admits tournament is 'saviour' after husband's death

Annabel Croft is back at Wimbledon just over a year after her husband’s death (Picture: WireImage/Getty Images)

Annabel Croft is back for another year at Wimbledon just 14 months after her husband’s tragic death.

The 57-year-old former tennis ace, who competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2023, turned radio and TV presenter will be once again reporting on all the action after the iconic tournament got underway on Monday.

She was the youngest Briton to compete at Wimbledon in 95 years, participating in the internationally recognised tournament at just 15 years old.

Last month, she admitted it was tough to go straight back to work after her husband’s death last year, but working on Wimbledon gave her a reason to focus.

‘I don’t actually know how I did it. I cried a lot, I cried every day. There were many times, even backstage, I’d be crying. Then it was extraordinary, how once I had to go out and do the job, I would just lock in to what I knew,’ she told the Mail.

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‘In many ways, the work was a respite from the terrible grief. It was a brain rest from crying.

Annabel Croft is back at Wimbledon this week (Picture: John Walton/PA Wire)

‘People were so kind and so thoughtful and forgiving, they kept saying, “You’re doing such an amazing job and you’re so brave.” But it was a saviour to me, to work.’

So, who was Annabel’s husband, and what happened to him?

What happened to Annabel Croft’s husband?

Annabel Croft’s husband was named Mel Coleman.

Annabel Croft with husband Mel, pictured in 2021 (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Tragically, he died of cancer in May this year, aged 60 years old.

While Mel appears to have mainly avoided the spotlight, the Express reports that he was a professional yachtsman and investment banker – and that the couple married 31 years ago in 1993.

Annabel and Mel had three children together – Charlie, Amber and Lily – and she previously admitted she was ‘heartbroken’ her husband didn’t get to see her on Strictly.

Annabel and Mel got married in 1993 (Picture: PA/Alamy Stock Photo)

The couple were married for 30 years until his death (Picture: David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, the tennis star said: ‘Mel always loved Strictly. He’d cry watching it and I’m completely heartbroken he’s not here to watch with me.’

Meanwhile, being back around her ‘tennis family’ last summer – and this year – is a big lift for Annabel.

She told the Mail: ‘It was helpful to have something to do and be surrounded by my tennis family, so many wonderful people who knew Mel. We were a double act. We grew together.’

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