Tennis star Annabel Croft and her dance partner Johannes Radebe narrowly missed out on making it to the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 final at the weekend. This evening, the emotional couple joined Fleur East on BBC spin-off show It Takes Two to discuss their incredible journey in the Ballroom, leaving viewers in tears in the process.
The duo managed to keep it together until Fleur showed them a reel of their best bits from the dance competition, which saw both Johannes, 36, and Annabel, 57, break down in tears. The pair could be seen dabbing their eyes with tissues as they watched their friendship blossom over the course of the series.
Johannes’ voice cracked as he shared what he would miss about Annabel, after they lost out in the dance-off against Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell. He shared: “Everything. It’s your smile – every day.
“How eager you were to learn to dance, and you were not here for the glory of it all, you were here to learn to dance. I hope you know how proud I am of you. Thank you for every day.”
Annabel then admitted she was still finding it tough to look back on their memories. The retired athlete told Johannes while wiping away her tears: “Thank you – more than anything!”
She added to Fleur: “It was hard watching that all back because it’s so much emotion and it was quite a roller coaster ride.
“We laughed hysterically through many rehearsals, we cried a lot, we went through emotions together.
“So it has been the most extraordinary journey and you are the most amazing teacher, I mean, quite extraordinary.
“Your passion and your detail – just extraordinary.”
Annabel and Johannes’ farewell on the show sparked a flood of emotional fans taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share their reactions.
One viewer tweeted: “Catching up on #ItTakesTwo and I’m bereft at Annabel and Jojo.”
Another added: “Not a dry eye in the house @bbcstrictly @StrictlyITT #ittakestwo.”
A third fan commented: “Johannes and Annabel have me bawling. It’s a shame they couldn’t make the final.”
A fourth admitted: “wondering if I’ll ever not get emotional when I see Annabel and Johannes.”
Annabel went on to sweetly reveal that she felt she had already won the Glitterball trophy as soon as she was partnered with Johannes.
Addressing missing out on a place in the Strictly final next weekend, Annabel admitted: “It’s hard not to feel dazed by it all, it’s just been the most magical 12 weeks.
“I enjoyed so much from it, from start to finish. If someone had said to me you might get to week 12, I’d have never believed it.
“I’m a little bit sad that I couldn’t get us to the final and of course, we’d have loved to get through but we had some stiff competition.”