Annabel Croft says Kate Garraway was 'grieving' before husband Derek's death

24 February 2024 , 00:01

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Strictly star Annabel Croft reveals that Kate Garraway would have been grieving for Derek before he passed away

Annabel Croft says Kate Garraway would have been grieving for "a long time" after her husband Derek was bedridden for several years before he died last month.

Annabel is still coming to terms with the death of her own husband Mel Coleman who died in May 2023 just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. By contrast, former political lobbyist Derek died in January after suffering long-lasting symptoms from coronavirus which had first seen him hospitalised in March 2020 when he suffered multiple organ failures.

Discussing grief in a new interview, Annabel said: “ Kate Garraway ’s been going through [grief] for a long time and it’s a very different [scenario to mine]. She told the publication: "But I can imagine how she’s feeling. Grief is horrendous and I take every day as it comes. I try to fill the day with nice things, but when I’m on my own at home, if I start looking at pictures, I start sobbing. I have three piles of unopened letters [from well-wishers] and feel awful because people have been so kind to take the time to write, but every time I start to read them, I can’t stop crying."

Strictly star Annabel Croft reveals that Kate Garraway would have been grieving for Derek before he passed away (DAN KENNEDY)

Derek passed away last month after suffering a cardiac arrest and almost four years after he was incapacitated by Covid (James Gourley/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

She added: "I’m too emotional and too raw at the moment. Christmas and New Year were really hard. There were a lot of tears because they’re such big markers, and because we had such a normal Christmas and New Year the previous year." Annabel continued: "We were a tight little unit anyway, but losing Mel has brought me closer to my children. We have our set places at the dinner table. It’s like The Three Bears – Mum sits there, Dad always sat there and the kids in the middle – and when we sit around that table for meals, we talk about Mel and his amazing humour, and that keeps him there."

Annabel looked slim and stylish in the accompanying magazine photoshoot. But she admitted her children - two daughters Amber Rose, Lily and son Charlie - were worried about her losing weight on Strictly and the subsequent tour. She said: "My kids were getting worried because during Strictly I went really scrawny. I couldn’t keep [weight] on with eight hours of dance a day.

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"I lost about 10lb. It’s probably gone back on now. I need to find a dance class to keep going and, right now, I’m the fittest I’ve ever been. I try to exercise every day. I walk, do yoga, play tennis twice a week for pure enjoyment, and run cross-country with a group on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for about 40 minutes. I like being outside in the fresh air. I can’t bear the idea of going into a sweaty gym."

On growing older, she added: "I’m a bit more aware of wrinkles than I ever was. I’ve never been someone to have work done. I’m scared of it, to be honest. I think, ‘What’s that going to do to me?’ because your body will try and process it somewhere, probably in the liver. I don’t care that much about ageing. Mel always made me feel good, so I never worried about that stuff."

In the interview with Woman&Home she also spoke about future TV roles. She touched on the prospect of replacing Sue Barker at Wimbledon, and perhaps landing a bigger role on the BBC after she was praised for her post match interviews on the court last year soon after Mel's death.

She had years of tennis training, which saw her win Wimbledon and Australian Open girls' tournaments in 1984 at the age of 17 and playing for Great Britain in the Fed Cup in 1985 and 1986. But she then retired aged 21 and moved into TV. Annabel said: “It’s lovely that people think I can do [Sue Barker’s] job, but I’ll just go with the flow. I’ve covered Wimbledon for 25, maybe even 30 years, so I’ll enjoy doing it in whatever capacity. It was the first year I hosted the [trophy] ceremony at the end of last year’s tournament. The most tragic thing was that Mel went before I did it. He had been beyond excited, so I was never going to pull out because he would not have wanted me to do that."

The April issue of woman&home is on sale Friday March 1.

Mark Jefferies