Annabel Croft, 58, shares 'exciting' baby news - 'I'm looking forward to it'
Strictly Come Dancing star Annabel Croft shared some exciting baby news as she discussed her love for her family in a recent interview
Strictly Come Dancing star Annabel Croft revealed she's becoming a grandmother as her daughter Amber is due to give birth to her first child with husband Hector in September. The 58-year-old said she's "looking forward to enjoying every second of it" as she discussed her loving family.
While Amber, 31, is waiting to give birth, Annabel's son Charlie, 29, will be marrying Boodles heiress Honour Wainwright in August. Her younger daughter Lily, 27, lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with her partner of five years, Felix. Speaking of becoming a grandmother, Annabel said: "It's given us something so positive to look forward to."
The former tennis player said all her children have "wonderful partners" and the family all love spending time with each other.
'I'm really excited to become a grandmother," she said to Hello!"When you have children yourself, it's such a whirlwind and you spend your life sort of treading water, and you don't enjoy the good bits. But now I'm looking forward to just enjoying every second."
Television host Annabel went on to gush over her love for babies, adding they're "full of personality". Annabel recently discussed the death of her husband, Mel Coleman.
She said Strictly Come Dancing"saved her" following his death in May 2023 from stomach cancer. The couple married in 1993 after Mel, a professional yachtsman, taught Annabel how to sail for a TV programme.
The grief hit Annabel hard, particularly as she and Mel had planned to retire and downsize in southwest London. It was only when she agreed to - and lasted 10 weeks on - Strictly Come Dancing that Annabel, who won the San Diego Open in 1985, felt she could tackle her bereavement.
Speaking to The Telegraph this month, the TV and radio host revealed: "I don't know what I would have done without being busy. I would have sunk... Literally within a few weeks [of losing him] I was on the phone to my agent.
"He said, 'I've signed you up to Strictly. You're giving an interview tomorrow because they are announcing it'."
Following the series, in which Annabel came fourth, the grief became less raw.
The former tennis star said the pain now "comes in rain showers but they are getting less and then it's gone". She added: "I didn't know I had an incredible marriage, but I did."
With Amber's pregnancy and Annabel's plans to move to a smaller house near the Thames, there is "so much to be positive about".
"I don't want to be a professional widow. I understand that a lot of people can identify with what I've been through, but I don't want grief to define me," Annabel, who won Celebrity Wrestling on ITV in 2005, said.
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