25 November 2023 , 19:04
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Annabel Croft says she wishes her husband was still alive to meet her Strictly Come Dancing professional partner Johannes Radebe as he was such a huge fan of his dance abilities.
The 57-year-old tennis star was devastated earlier this year when her sailing champion husband Mel Coleman died in May at the age of 60. Mel had battled stomach cancer - having been diagnosed with the condition just weeks before his tragic death.
Annabel has credited Strictly with helping her work through her grief as she has danced through her emotions over the course of the past two months of being on the show. And she has been paired with 36-year-old dance professional Johannes who has been something of a rock for her while they have been dancing towards the Glitterball Trophy.
On Friday, Annabel opened up about the difficult year that she has endured, and shared her happiness at being able to dance with Johannes. She also revealed that her husband, who was a huge fan of Strictly, would have been a firm friend of the dance professional if had still been alive to meet him.
Annabel Croft's husband, Mel Coleman, died earlier this year (Getty)
Annabel says her husband would have struck up a great friendship with her Strictly co-star Johannes Radebe (PA)Speaking on This Morning, Annabel said: "It has been a horrific year, it was something I've never anticipated, this was never meant to be how life was going to be, I thought I had a future with my husband, we'd been together since I was 21, 36 years together and I miss him terribly, there is no question about it.
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"I so want to speak to him about what we are doing, I miss his humour and I really wish that Johannes had met him because I feel like they would have got on so well. And he adored Johannes when he used to watch the programme."
Annabel and Johannes had been tipped to leave the contest this weekend, with bookies giving unfavourable odds for the couple alongside Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu. However, the freshest odds have given Annabel a boost, seeing her odds of winning increase to 14/1 - matching those of Bobby Brazier who has seen his own odds plummet in recent weeks. Angela and Carlos seem most likely to face the dance off as their winning odds have dropped to 20/1, but there is as much chance Bobby and his dance partner Dianne Buswell will join them in the bottom two.
The top three; Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, and Nigel Harman and Katya Jones are inching ahead, however, with stunning odds of winning being awarded to each via William Hill. They stand at winning with odds of 2/9, 8/1 and 12/1 respectively.
Saturday night will see the remaining celebs and their dance partners take on a range of daring an exciting dances in a bid to win the approval of the judges and secure a spot in the quarter finals. Annabel and Johannes are set to showcase their Paso doble and will dance to the sound of España cañí by Pascual Marquina Narro.