Annabel Croft is back with the BBC at Wimbledon 2026 and the former tennis star has been candid about her personal life since the death of her husband in May 2023
BBC host Annabel Croft will resume her position as part of the broadcasting team for Wimbledon 2026. The former British tennis ace has enjoyed considerable success away from the court after establishing herself as a yearly fixture at SW19.
So much so that many fans have grown curious about Croft’s private life and her current romantic situation. The tennis star-turned-broadcaster was married to husband Mel Coleman for just shy of 30 years when he died as a result of stomach cancer in May 2023.
Croft, 59, has spoken warmly of her late partner since then, while also addressing the extended period of mourning that followed his passing. Nevertheless, the former tennis talent has also been candid about her future romantic possibilities as she continues to build her star in the media world.
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Opinion on dating
Three years after her husband Mel’s passing, it seems Croft still doesn’t feel ready at the prospect of dating again. She has outlined the torment of her bereavement period in vivid detail, offering a stark account of just how profoundly she was impacted when her yachtsman husband succumbed to cancer only 12 weeks following his diagnosis.
“I have traumatic flashbacks of the day Mel died,” she told The Sun’s Fabulous magazine in 2024. “During his final hours, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he started listing instructions like, ‘Change the tyre on the van’ and then saying to the children, ‘Sorry I can’t be there for your weddings.’
“That memory breaks my heart. After Mel died, it didn’t feel real, but as though he was away on a trip and would reappear. Weirdly, the pain of grief feels like it’s growing, rather than easing, because of the realisation that he’s not coming back.”
In 2024, barely 18 months after Coleman’s passing, Croft told The Times she was in no shape to be re-entering the dating pool. However, that wasn’t for a lack of potential suitors.
She said: “I’ve had people asking for dinner dates. I’m, like, ‘You have no idea!’ I’m not anywhere close to that. It gives me the heebies to think about it. It’s never say never, but I wouldn’t mind if it was never.
“Still, I don’t want to feel doom and gloom for the rest of my life. Mel would have wanted me to be happy. I try to live in the moment, to stay as present as you possibly can. It’s the only way to be – like a sportsman.”
Croft has since made clear that she “didn’t want to be a professional widow.” Yet she emphasised at the time that she remained unprepared to step back into the world of romance.
She later reinforced that position in an interview with Hello! magazine last year when she said: “I don’t even consider it. It’s not something I’m thinking about at all. I’m not in that headspace – it’s way too soon.”
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Substantial net worth
The vast majority of Croft’s financial portfolio is thought to have been built on the back of her broadcasting career. Previous reports suggest the British TV stalwart is estimated to be worth around £1.2million, with only a modest slice of that derived from her on-court endeavours.
After all, Croft spent just four years or so as a professional following her victories in both the Wimbledon and Australian Open girls’ titles in 1984. By the time she hung up her racket in 1988, Croft had accumulated around $200,000 in prize money (roughly £155,000 in today’s money but worth less on the former exchange rate).
After nearly 40 years presenting and hosting programmes across a variety of channels, Croft has firmly achieved millionaire status. She even launched her own fitness video, ‘Annabel Croft’s Shape Tape’, in 1990, though how well it performed commercially remains unclear.
What is certain is that Croft would have pocketed around £60,000 for her 2023 appearance on Strictly Come Dancing. Celebrities reportedly receive £25,000 as a basic appearance fee simply for signing up, but Croft’s run to fourth place would have earned her an additional £35,000 as a bonus.
