Annabel Croft is set to travel around North Yorkshire in a campervan in tribute to her late husband Mel Coleman for a new segment on This Morning.
The former tennis star, 57, will present a three-part series on the ITV show called Camper Vannabel, where she will explore North Yorkshire.
Annabel said the series is dedicated to her husband Mel as the pair had enjoyed exploring the UK in the camper together and she wants to continue on that tradition.
Annabel married yachtsman Mel, 60, in 1992, but he tragically passed away in May 2023 – eight weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.
On the new series, Annabel told The Mirror: ‘A few years ago, my late husband Mel and I, converted an old delivery van with the idea of exploring the best of Britain together.
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/00/83682163-13312279-image-a-1_1713223238829.jpg)
Annabel Croft is set to travel around North Yorkshire in a campervan in tribute to her late husband Mel Coleman for a new series on This Morning, The Mirror revealed on Monday
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 3 Annabel married yachtsman Mel, 60, in 1992, but he tragically passed away in May 2023 - eight weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer (Pictured in](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/01/83682213-13312279-Annabel_married_yachtsman_Mel_60_in_1992_but_he_tragically_passe-a-34_1713225835619.jpg)
Annabel married yachtsman Mel, 60, in 1992, but he tragically passed away in May 2023 – eight weeks after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer (Pictured in
‘Life doesn’t always work out the way you plan and although I have some wonderful memories of us in Vannabel, I want to continue what we started and spend more time discovering Britain.’
She added: ‘Strap yourselves in because we are going off-grid from coastlines to countryside, so pitch up with Vannabel and I for our journey of discovery.’
Annabel and Mel had three children, two daughters, Amber, 27, and Lily, 24, and a son, Charlie, 26.
Annabel told Women & Home Magazine in February that she her own grief following the loss of her husband Mel has led her to feel like ‘nothing matters anymore.’
The former Strictly star said the grief she felt for her husband was ‘horrendous’.
Annabel admitted that competing in Strictly Come Dancing distracted her from the ‘terrible’ time at home following Mel’s death.
She told the publication: ‘I’ve done lots of extraordinary things in my career, but Strictly is different… A distraction at this terrible time in our family’s lives was quite positive.
‘I didn’t do everything perfectly, but after everything we’ve been through, I thought, ‘Does it really matter?’ Awful things go on in life, so getting a few steps wrong was never going to be major.
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 5 On the new series, Annabel told The Mirror : 'A few years ago, my late husband Mel and I, converted an old delivery van with the idea of exploring the best of Britain together' (Pictured in 2021)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/00/83682279-13312279-image-a-3_1713223267022.jpg)
On the new series, Annabel told The Mirror : ‘A few years ago, my late husband Mel and I, converted an old delivery van with the idea of exploring the best of Britain together’ (Pictured in 2021)
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 7 Annabel and Mel had three children, two daughters, Amber, 27, and Lily, 24, and a son, Charlie, 26 (pictured in 2004)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/00/83682281-13312279-image-m-8_1713223440616.jpg)
Annabel and Mel had three children, two daughters, Amber, 27, and Lily, 24, and a son, Charlie, 26 (pictured in 2004)
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 9 Annabel told Women & Home Magazine in February that she her own grief following the loss of her husband Mel has led her to feel like 'nothing matters anymore' (Pictured in 2010)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/00/83682283-13312279-Annabel_told_Women_Home_Magazine_in_February_that_she_her_own_gr-m-9_1713223496397.jpg)
Annabel told Women & Home Magazine in February that she her own grief following the loss of her husband Mel has led her to feel like ‘nothing matters anymore’ (Pictured in 2010)
‘Nothing matters any more. Nothing means anything, actually. We’re all still trying to process it all.’
Mel was a successful investment banker who took part in the America’s Cup and, more recently, ran a tennis school with his wife.
He was noted for his perfect health and, like Annabel, enjoyed an active outdoors lifestyle.
After Covid lockdowns, the two converted an old delivery van into a mobile home and took it around the country and into Europe on walking holidays.
Announcing his death in May 2023, she said: ‘My beloved husband Mel passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning after a short battle with cancer. My family and I are completely heartbroken and ask for privacy at this very sad time.’
Annabel previously revealed that her path crossed with Mel’s quite by chance when she was at a crisis point.
Aged 21, she was at the US Open having a pep talk from fellow player John Newcombe, who suggested that she should think about what she wanted to do with her life as she seemed unhappy.
She had been on the tennis tour for nearly six years and was lonely, stressed and lost by the demands of incessantly competing.
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 11 The former Strictly star said the grief she felt for her husband was 'horrendous' (Pictured at their wedding)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/00/83682275-13312279-image-a-4_1713223299681.jpg)
The former Strictly star said the grief she felt for her husband was ‘horrendous’ (Pictured at their wedding)
‘As we were having this chat, I got a text from my mother saying the BBC production office in Belfast were asking whether I’d be interested in filming a programme about yacht racing.
‘I’d never been on a yacht before, but it ended up with me, Eamonn Holmes and Peter Skellern going off to Guernsey to shoot a programme where we learnt how to race a yacht.
‘Mel, who had just got back from Australia after the America’s Cup, was one of the yachtsmen and that is how we met.
‘After a day’s filming we’d all go to the pub, have dinner – it sounds weird, but I’d never really done that – and I remember thinking, gosh this is really fun and normal, and I want a bit more of this rather than getting up and putting on a tracksuit and stressing about whether my backhand is working today.’
They married six years later.
![Annabel Croft to honor late husband Mel Coleman by embarking on a North Yorkshire campervan journey for new This Morning role, fulfilling their dream of exploring Britain together 13 Mel was a successful investment banker who took part in the America's Cup and, more recently, ran a tennis school with his wife (Pictured in 1996)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/16/01/83682211-13312279-Mel_was_a_successful_investment_banker_who_took_part_in_the_Amer-a-35_1713226053790.jpg)
Mel was a successful investment banker who took part in the America’s Cup and, more recently, ran a tennis school with his wife (Pictured in 1996)