‘There’s not a day I haven’t cried about losing Mel’: After amazing viewers by presenting at Wimbledon in the weeks following her husband’s death, Annabel Croft hopes her stint on Strictly will soothe the pain she still feels four months on

Happiness has been in short supply for Annabel Croft lately. The tennis star has cried every day since her husband, Mel Coleman, died in May, just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, leaving her and their three children bereft.

That devastating loss inspired her to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, she told The Mail on Sunday today.

Not only will her performance be a tribute to her husband – who was a huge fan of the BBC1 show – but she also hopes the grueling training schedule will help take her mind off the heartache and help her ‘find some joy’ find’.

“It’s been a terrible, terrible time,” she says, candidly reflecting on the past few months. “I can’t…” The thought disappears.

‘There hasn’t been a day that I haven’t cried. That’s why I think I can distract myself with something absolutely wonderful.

Happiness has been in short supply for Annabel Croft lately. The tennis star has cried every day since her husband, Mel Coleman, died in May

The devastating loss of her husband inspired Mrs Croft to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, she told The Mail on Sunday today.

“I think it’s a really great time to be distracted and spend time doing something so wonderful and beautiful and to be with great people…”

But her time on the dance floor will be bittersweet without her husband of 31 years there to cheer her on. “He always loved the show and he cried when he watched it,” she said. “So I’m devastated that he’s not here to watch with me.”

Mr Coleman, a former America’s Cup sailor, died aged 60, two months after complaining of stomach pain. He was subsequently diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.

Just weeks later, Ms Croft, 57, was back at work, conducting post-match interviews as part of the BBC’s coverage of the Wimbledon final and overseeing the ceremony in which winners Marketa Vondrousova and Carlos Alcaraz presented their trophies reception names.

While fans praised her stoicism and professionalism, Ms Croft is hoping for more from Strictly when it starts on Saturday.

“It’s about having fun,” she said. “Just learning something new, listening to the music, hopefully just going with the flow.

‘I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’m willing to give it a try. I hope it’s fun and that I don’t take myself too seriously.’

Her three adult children, Charlie, Amber and Lily, will cheer her on. “They are excited and really want me to do the show because it really gives me joy.” said Mrs. Croft.

She said the trio themselves are “great dancers” and have given her tips and advice on how to “loosen up” on the dance floor. They are a close-knit family that regularly goes on holiday together in a camper they have converted, nicknamed Vanabelle.

Her fitness regime will also help her with the demands of the show. She enjoys running, tennis, yoga and padel – a racquet sport for which she is an ambassador – which she says keeps her ‘smiling’ in difficult times. She even released her own fitness video in the 1990s.

Ms Croft shot to fame when, in 1982, at the age of 15, she became the youngest Briton to compete at Wimbledon in almost a century. She retired from professional tennis at the age of 21.

She met her husband at one of her first broadcasting jobs when she was asked by the BBC to go to Guernsey to learn how to race a yacht with Eamonn Holmes and musician Peter Skellern.

“Mel, who had just returned from Australia after the America’s Cup, was one of the sailors and that’s how we met,” she later recalled. They married in 1992, six years after they met. But despite her background as a professional sportswoman, she insists she won’t be competitive on Strictly.

Annabel Croft attends day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 8

Mrs. Croft’s time on the dance floor will be bittersweet without her husband of 31 years there to cheer her on (Mrs. Croft is second from right in the front row, along with this fellow competitors years).

Ms Croft shot to fame when, in 1982, at the age of 15, she became the youngest Briton to compete at Wimbledon in almost a century. She retired from professional tennis at the age of 21

“Only with myself,” she says. ‘Because I think that as a tennis player you are also competitive with yourself, that you want to achieve perfection for yourself.

“I don’t want to be competitive in the competition because we already know there are huge differences in the way everyone moves and dances, and I couldn’t possibly compare myself to a lot of them because they’re all great.”

She previously called Strictly ‘a terrifying prospect’ but says she is keen to challenge herself professionally and personally, including her role at Wimbledon in July. Ms Croft said: “I have been conducting tennis interviews for many, many years, but hosting the Wimbledon final was obviously the biggest thing I have ever done.

‘It was nerve-wracking, but I really enjoyed it. I used to have a panic attack when I did that kind of work.

“I’ve definitely pushed myself into areas in my life that I didn’t want to do. I have learned how to overcome those fears.

‘I’ve found that overcoming those challenges gives you a lot more confidence, it’s good to push yourself a little bit.’