Annabel Croft breaks silence after Strictly elimination leaves fans 'gutted'

Strictly was a rollercoaster ride of emotion at the weekend, with every couple performing two dances and the judges showering them with praise.

While Annabel Croft impressed judges and viewers alike, however, she and her partner Johannes Radebe ended up in the dance-off, and the judges chose to send them home.

Taking to social media after their decision was aired, Annabel expressed her gratitude.

The former tennis player took to her Instagram Stories, where she re-shared videos of her exit from the show posted to Instagram by former Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse and former contestant Catherine Tyldesley, who captioned it: "Oh my heart... @annabelcroft @johannesradebe you have been utterly glorious..." to which the presenter responded: "Thank you".

She also took to Instagram where she posted the same video from the official Strictly account to her grid, which had the caption: "What a partnership. This has been a life-changing experience for @annabel_croft, and we’ve had the pleasure of watching her shine every week with @johannesradebe by her side. She’s leaving #Strictly as a Semi-Finalist and with a friend for life."

Fans commented: "Sobbing!!! however… I feel like it was the right decision, Annabel got something far better than a glitter-ball… she got Johannes for a friend!x" and: "'My life is richer with you in it' excuse me while I sob in the corner". Dianne sweetly commented: "Love you both so much [heart emoji]." 

Viewers also took to X to share how sad they were about the star's exit, and how much they admired her hard work, which comes just months after the tragic death of her husband, Mel Coleman, which she spoke about in the video below...

One gushed: "Unfortunately, the right person went tonight, but @Annabel_Croft has found a new lease on life thanks to dancing but mainly because of @jojo_radebe and their #Strictly journey. It is such a shame as it would have been lovely to see Annabel and JoJo in the final."

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"It should have been Annabel instead of Bobby," another opined, referring to actor Bobby Brazier, who the judges chose to save following the dance-off.

"OMG. Craig saved Annabel. Absolutely GUTTED she's out," a third wrote. As their comment indicated, the judges were split over who to save, with Craig Revel Horwood diverging from his co-stars.

After the couples had performed for a second time, with Bobby and Dianne dancing their Quickstep to Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin and Annabel and Johannes performing their Viennese Waltz to Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by Slow Moving Millie, the judges gave their verdict.

Craig said: "Well, one dance was flashy, one dance was quiet. I think both couples have equalised completely. I saw improvement in this one couple and based on this dance and nothing in the past but this dance alone, the person [who] I think had the most exquisite technique is Annabel and Johannes."

Motsi Mabuse chose to save Bobby and Dianne, saying: "Well, first of all I have to say this was a really tough one tonight, I think both couples danced really well, and after the dance-off, I stood there for a few seconds making my decision, there was one dance where there was a slight hesitation at a turn, one slight hesitation was the decision, and I will be saving Bobby and Dianne."

Anton Du Beke also chose to save Bobby and Dianne. He commented: "It's going to be enormously disappointing for somebody, but I also think it's a celebration of how well you've both done and how far you've come…

"It was a very close-run thing and literally because of a coming out of a pivoting section wasn't as clean as they would have liked and I would have liked, I’m going to be saving Bobby and Dianne."

That meant head judge Shirley Ballas had the casting vote. She said: "I thought both couples were absolutely extraordinary… there was technical qualities on both sides, improvements galore, but again one tiny mistake coming out of a pivot turn and therefore my decision would be to save Bobby and Dianne."