add:'I....' (About punctuation)

[thedaffodils]

And Boag added: 'I would just like to say that I've had the time of my life and it's all down to having such a great person to dance with, so thank you Austin.'

Source:the Daily Mail

Hello! I always use a comman after the words, such as, say, add, etc..
I never saw native speakers use colon before this. I wonder whether it is okay to use it.

And should I add a period after ", etc." in such a sentence?

There are some apples, oranges, etc..

[RonBee]

Sometimes a colon (:) is used before a quote.

Do not use a period after etc. at the end of a sentence. Instead, say:

apples, oranges, bananas, etc.

[thedaffodils]

Thank you for your help, RonBee.