Annabel Croft saw 'a lot of stress behind the scenes' on Strictly Come Dancing
Former 'Strictly Come Dancing' star Annabel Croft admitted there was "a lot of stress behind the scenes" when she took part in the BBC One Latin and ballroom show, including seeing doors slammed and "somebody running off down the road and lots of tears".
Annabel Croft saw "a lot of stress behind the scenes" when she took part on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
The 57-year-old former tennis player has recalled seeing "doors being slammed" and "somebody running off down the road and lots of tears" when she was rehearsing for the 2023 series.
She told The Sun newspaper: "There is a lot of stress behind the scenes.
"You were rehearsing next door to various couples and would see doors being slammed and somebody running off down the road and lots of tears."
Annabel was eliminated from 'Strictly' during the series 21 semi-final, narrowly missing out on a place in the final one week later.
The star admitted afterwards she didn't ever see herself lifting the Glitterball Trophy, but when she kept progressing each week she was desperate to win the show for her professional partner, Johannes Radebe.
She told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "I never, ever looked at the Glitterball and thought, 'I want to win that' [but] when we stayed in week after week, I did start to think, 'Gosh, is it possible?'
"If it was possible, I wanted to win, not just for myself, but for Johannes, because I knew what it would mean to him.
"Winning 'Strictly' would have been his Wimbledon, and I wanted to give that to him.
"He was really devastated, much more so than I was. I thought we'd done amazingly well, way more than I ever anticipated, but he thought we could do it."
Annabel wanted to win to thank Johannes for helping her through her grief, after she lost her husband Mel to colon cancer in May 2023, just months before she took part in 'Strictly'.
She said: "He was always proud of everything I did. I just wish he could have been here to see it. And to meet Johannes.
"That's a big regret, that they never got to meet, because they would have roared with laughter together."
