Man City star Kyle Walker confesses to betraying 'soulmate & best friend' Annie Kilner in astonishingly honest interview

Posted Monday, January 29, 2024 by Thesun.co.uk

ENGLAND ace Kyle Walker today admits he made "idiot choices and idiot decisions" over his secret child and bitterly regrets betraying soulmate wife Annie.

The Man City defender, 33, opens up on the pain of losing his family in an astonishingly frank interview — and accepts he is the only one to blame.

He is now living alone in a rented £3million property and accepts that, having fathered a second child with model Lauryn Goodman, his marriage is all but over.

He also issued an apology to Annie, mum to three of his children and now expecting a fourth.

Kyle told The Sun: "What I've done is horrible and I take full responsibility.

"I made idiot choices and idiot decisions. I can't begin to think or imagine what Annie is going through. I've tried to ask her but there's pain and hurt.

"The man that's meant to love, care and be there for her, did this.

"There have been days in this ordeal where I've just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.

"The only person to blame is me. I have roles and responsibilities that I'm aware of and I've made stupid choices. But I need to own up to my mistakes — I owe it to everyone.

"My actions have caused a lot of pain to a lot of people. I'm sorry because, as a family, this isn't meant to happen."

Sheffield-born Kyle, who has won 81 caps for England and last season landed the treble with Man City, said he was speaking out for the sake of his family.

He explained: "I am a private man but I accept that I am a public figure and I need to address what I've done.

"It hasn't helped that it has been played out in the media. But I've chosen to speak now in the hope that I can at least explain myself and enable my wife and children to have the privacy they so desperately need and deserve."

Kyle, who captained his country for the first time in November in a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia, went on: "When I met Annie at 17, I never envisaged my private life being like this. I never thought I would be a father of six.

"In football I've achieved more than what I ever thought I would achieve. But to personally hurt what I truly believe is my best friend, that's what hurts a lot.

"How could I hurt someone I love so much? That's something I need to find in myself.

"I need to find out why I have done this and why situations have occurred. I am human and I've made mistakes on and off the field.

"The ones off the field are definitely more damaging and have been more hurtful to me.

"Football has been my life since I was six but my family comes before anything on this planet. At the moment, they're hurting enormously."

His voice broke as he revealed: "My little boy goes to sleep with me every night and to not have him . . . I'm used to being away for long periods of time with England.

"We say goodnight on FaceTime. But to know that I'm not with him because of my mistake — mistake is probably the wrong word, my choices — that's what pains me."

Kyle said he had known Lauryn since his early 20s. Despite her claims, he insisted that there had never been a relationship.

But in April 2020, she gave birth to a son, and later publicly named Kyle as the dad.

He recalls ringing Annie from City's training ground to warn her before news got out, saying: "I've got to tell you something. I had a one-night stand with someone."

He named Lauryn then interrupted his wife's screams to add: "I've got to tell you something else."

Annie yelled: "Kyle, no, I'm begging you, there can't be anything else." She said afterwards: "I didn't think 'baby'.

"It was like a nightmare. Before I had time to think he said, 'She says she's pregnant and it's mine'."

Kyle moved out of the family home to a rented £8,000-a-month pad in nearby Hale, Cheshire.

Annie later agreed to take him back for the sake of their children and admitted: "How can I hate the man my kids love so much?"

Kyle vowed not to have any contact with Lauryn — beyond ongoing financial arrangements.

But in August 2022, Lauryn revealed she was planning to relocate 245 miles from Brighton to set up home on his doorstep.

Kyle said he met her at a solicitors' office to try to stop the move.
He then met his son, Kairo, for the first time and the couple resumed contact without Annie's knowledge.

In early October 2022, Kyle travelled to London for groin surgery and met Lauryn.

He said: "It wasn't intentional or premeditated but I slept with her. A lot was going on. It's not an excuse. I'd ruptured my groin, I had a World Cup to get fighting fit for."

But then he received the bombshell news that Lauryn was pregnant again.

He recalled: "Lauryn told me at the end of October, early November. I remember going upstairs at the training ground when I got a phone call from her. I was with the physio at the time. I nearly fainted. I was just white. He said to me, 'What's the matter?', and I wouldn't tell him because I needed to process it myself.

"I asked if we could scrap the session and he just said, 'Fine'.

"I went into survival mode. I was like, 'What can I do now every day to make sure that I go home to Annie and the boys?'.

"When I was dealing with all this, I was still able to play football. My mum and my dad and my friends have asked me, 'How?'.

"But it was my release. It was 90 minutes, 100 minutes, two hours if you want to call it that, where I didn't have to look at that phone or listen to demands from a certain someone.

"I've tried my utmost to keep this under wraps, not because I'm embarrassed or ashamed . . . I try to be a private person.

"I take full ownership of the choices that I've made that have hurt other people.

"No one's put a gun to my head and said that I've got to do these things. I have done it by my own accord and I won't blame anything or anyone else in this situation.

"It was me that did it, me and Lauryn. We both did this.

"If I could go back and do it a different way, I would. I knew what was coming. The second child had been born and the deadline was set. It scared me."

In the same month, he verbally agreed a reported £15million move to German giants Bayern Munich — to try to run from the looming scandal.

But he eventually turned them down as he did not want to be away from his family when his secret emerged.

Then, a day after Boxing Day, Lauryn sent Annie an Instagram message, telling her: "I don't have two baby daddies — I have one."

She also forwarded a photo of Kyle on a playdate with Lauryn and the two children in a park.

Kyle added: "I knew something was coming when I landed back from the Club World Cup before Christmas because I had a conversation with Lauryn.

"She was screaming down the phone, saying Annie's pregnant. I said she wasn't. It was none of her business. I felt I had to lie to her because I knew if I told her the truth it was going to blow.

"The pregnancy was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Annie ordered the £160,000-a-week star to leave the family home in Cheshire and has since ditched her wedding ring.

She has hired Coleen Rooney's Wagatha Christie lawyer, Paul Lunt, and PR guru Rachel Monk.

Shortly after the New Year she announced in a statement that she was taking "some time away" from Kyle.

He said: "It's my fault. It's completely my fault. It's what I've done. But the children are innocent in all of this and that has to be at the forefront of everyone's minds.

"I don't know what the future will hold. But I needed to give an explanation. My family, the children have been put through enough . . . and I am to blame."