Annabel Croft has revealed that Kate Garraway is said to have grieved her husband Derek Draper for ‘a long time’ before his death after battling Covid for four years.
The former tennis star, 57, also told Women & Home Magazine that her own grief after losing her husband Mel has left her feeling like “nothing matters anymore.”
Annabel married sailor Mel, 60, in 1992, but he tragically passed away in May 2023 – eight weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.
She shared three children with the sportsman, two daughters, Amber, 27, and Lily, 24, and a son, Charlie, 26.
The former Strictly star said the sadness she felt for her husband was ‘horrible’ and she can identify with Kate Garraway.
Annabel Croft has revealed that Kate Garraway allegedly saddened her husband Derek Draper for ‘a long time’ when she was on the cover of Women & Home Magazine
Kate lost her husband, Derek Draper, in January 2024 after he suffered a heart attack before Christmas following a long battle with Covid (pictured in 2019)
Kate lost her husband, Derek Draper, 56, in January 2024 after he suffered a heart attack before Christmas following a long battle with Covid.
She said: Kate Garraway has been dealing with grief for a long time and it’s a very different scenario to mine, but I can imagine how she feels.
‘The sadness is terrible and I take each day as it comes. I try to fill the day with fun things, but when I’m home alone, I start to sob when I start looking at photos.’
Annabel admitted that taking part in Strictly Come Dancing distracted her from the ‘terrible’ time at home after Mel’s death.
She told the publication: ‘I’ve done a lot of extraordinary things in my career, but strictly speaking that’s different… A distraction at this terrible time in our family’s lives has been quite positive.
“I didn’t do everything perfectly, but after everything we’ve been through, I thought, ‘Does it really matter?’ Terrible things happen in life, so taking a few wrong steps was never going to be a big thing.
‘Nothing matters anymore. Nothing actually means anything. We’re still processing it all.’
She said: Kate Garraway has been dealing with grief for a long time and it’s a very different scenario to mine, but I can imagine how she feels.
Annabel married sailor Mel, 60, in 1992, but he tragically died in May 2023 – eight weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer (pictured 2021)
Speaking to Women & Home, Annabel admitted that taking part in Strictly Come Dancing distracted her from the ‘terrible’ time at home (pictured with Graziano di Prima)
The former Strictly star said the sadness she felt for her husband was ‘horrible’ and she can identify with Kate
The former British number one said the Christmas holidays have been very difficult for her family as they continue to spare Mel a place around the table.
The mother of three explained that there is still a huge presence of him in their home as his toothbrush and clothes are still missing.
She said: ‘I have three stacks of unopened letters (from well-wishers) and I feel terrible because people have been kind enough to take the time to write, but every time I start reading them I can’t stop crying . I’m too emotional and raw right now. Christmas and New Year were really difficult.
‘There were a lot of tears because they are such big markers, and because we had such a normal Christmas and New Year last year. We were a close unit anyway, but losing Mel has brought me closer to my children.
‘We have our regular places at the dining table. It’s like The Three Bears – mom sits there, dad always sits there and the kids are in the middle – and when we sit down to dinner we talk about Mel and his great humor, and that keeps him there.
‘It’s strange because the house that was full of Mel is suddenly empty. All his stuff is still there. His side table in our bedroom is full, (there are) all his clothes, (his) toothbrush is still there.
‘It feels very final when you pick up that toothbrush and throw it in the trash. Maybe when I sell the house that will be the time to clear everything out, but right now I don’t know.”
Mel was a successful investment banker who competed in the America’s Cup and, more recently, ran a tennis school with his wife.
He was known for his perfect health and, like Annabel, enjoyed an active outdoor lifestyle.
After the Covid lockdowns, the two converted an old van into a mobile home and took it on walking holidays across the country and to Europe.
The mother of three also explained that there is still a huge Mel presence in their home as his toothbrush and clothes are still missing (pictured on their wedding day in 1992)
Announcing his death in May 2023, she said: “My beloved husband Mel passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning after a short battle with cancer. My family and I are heartbroken and ask for privacy at this very sad time.”
Annabel previously revealed that her path happened to cross with Mel’s when she was at a crisis point.
At the age of 21, she was at the US Open and had a pep talk from fellow player John Newcombe, who suggested she think about what she wanted to do with her life as she seemed unhappy.
She had been on the tennis tour for almost six years and was lonely, stressed and lost by the demands of relentlessly competing.
‘While we were having this conversation I got a text from my mother saying that the BBC production office in Belfast asked if I would be interested in filming a program about yacht racing.
‘I’d never been on a yacht before, but eventually me, Eamonn Holmes and Peter Skellern went to Guernsey to record a program where we learned to race on a yacht.
‘Mel, who had just come back from Australia after the America’s Cup, was one of the sailors and that’s how we met.
‘After a day of filming we all went to the pub, had dinner – it sounds strange, but I’d never really done that before – and I remember thinking, gee, this is really nice and normal, and I want some more of This instead of getting up and putting on a tracksuit and worrying about whether my backhand will work today.’
Six years later they married.
Read the full interview in Women & Home Magazine, on sale now.