Annabel on the road in tribute to late husband
TRUST Annabel Croft to bring so much elegance to a trip in a campervan, as the Strictly Come Dancing star films a special series in honour of her late husband.
The former tennis ace, who won the nation’s hearts all over again last year as she competed in the BBC1 dance contest while mourning the death of her beloved Mel, has now been signed up by This Morning for the poignant tribute.
Annabel, 57, will explore North Yorkshire in her trusty campervan Vannabel, in which she and Mel enjoyed exploring the UK together before he died aged 60 last year just 16 weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.
She said: “A few years ago, my late husband Mel and I converted an old delivery van into a cosy campervan with the idea of exploring the best of Britain together. Life doesn’t always work out the way you plan and although I have some wonderful memories of us in Vannabell, I want to continue what we started and spend more time discovering Britain.”
She called the three-part series called Camper Vannabel an “absolute labour of love”, adding: “Strap yourselves in because we are going off grid from coastlines to countryside.”
Annabel made it to the Strictly semi-finals alongside pro dancer Johannes Radebe, 36, showing great courage as she worked hard on the dancefloor despite her raw grief.
She had signed up for the show as a distraction for mourning and said at the time that it enabled her to “get up in the morning and to have a purpose rather than just sobbing at home, even though that still happens”. Annabel’s new series comes as Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley achieved the best audience reach of the year so far on ITV’s This Morning with 4.5 million viewers across the week. Viewing figures for January to March 2024 were also up 5% compared to 2023.
●●Camper Vannabel starts tomorrow on This Morning from 10am on ITV1 and