KYLE Walker tells The Sun today that his family are “all I’ve got” — and he has let them down.
The England and Manchester City defender admitted he was selfish not to tell his pregnant wife about his second secret child — and says: “It was a slow death for me and for Annie.”
Annie’s world imploded just after Christmas when she received a devastating Instagram message out of the blue from Lauryn Goodman, who told her that Kyle had fathered another child with her.
For the first time he publicly admits: “I’m sorry that I have had a second child with Lauryn and hurt my best friend.
“It’s horrible to say that out loud.
“I’ve hurt someone I truly believe is my soulmate.
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“It’s tough to not have her.
“She’s my right-hand man.
“I think of her so highly that she probably won’t understand and I probably don’t really tell her.
“This isn’t an interview for me to tell the world how much I care about her because that’s down to me and Annie and what we feel.
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“Annie knows I’m sorry.
“I’m sorry because as a family this isn’t meant to happen.
“They are all I’ve got.
“I’m not asking for pity.
“I’ve let Annie and my boys down, I’ve let my mum and dad down, my nan down.”
Last year, Lauryn, 32, welcomed their second child — a baby girl — conceived during a brief liaison in London.
Annie then became pregnant with their fourth just weeks later and is due to give birth in March.
Kyle said: “It pains me to think (of how she is coping while pregnant).
“I’ve never not been there.
“To not be there when she needs me the most, but to know that you’ve caused that hurt, that’s something I have to live with now.”
Lauryn told Annie she deserved to know the truth and provided DNA results and legal letters that confirmed her worst fears.
I’ve let Annie and my boys down, I’ve let my mum and dad down, my nan down
Kyle Walker
In a bombshell admission, Kyle says he lived with the lie for 14 months, even after Annie, 30, became pregnant for a fourth time.
Despite everything, he is desperate to save the marriage but accepts this could be the final nail in the coffin.
He said he would not blame Annie if she chose to divorce him — and vowed to become a better role model.
He said: “I think there’s too much pain and too much hurt.
“For now, I just need to be the best dad that I can be.”
By contrast he added of Lauryn: “There was no relationship.
“That is something Lauryn could never honestly say.
“We’ve never been out for food.
“We’ve never been to the cinema.
“I admit Lauryn was a friend for a long time.
“I probably met her back when I was 20, 21.
“We then have our episode in 2020.
“I’m 33 now, that’s a good nine years before there has been anything of the sort.
“After that there was nothing of the sort.
“To have a relationship with someone… would she even know how many sugars I have in my coffee, if I have sugars?
“She couldn’t tell you.
A move to Bayern to flee fallout
KYLE last night told how he almost followed Harry Kane to Bayern Munich to escape the looming baby scandal.
The defender verbally agreed a reported £15million move to the German champions in July.
He said: “I tried to escape. Did I want to leave City? No, of course I didn’t. We’re the best team in the world at the minute.
“But it was a chance to get away from England and the media I was going to get.
“I was aware the clock was ticking. I came very close to moving. We were having conversations. I was going to a great club, a massive club. But in the end I couldn’t go.
“If I’m in Germany and this happens, Annie leaves and I’m now in Germany on my own.
“My kids wouldn’t be around the corner where I can see them.
“There’s pain and emotion at the moment but I can go to the house, take the kids to school, and my little lad to football.”
“Lauryn had me trapped in a corner from October when she told me about a second child.
“She would ask me to jump and I would say, ‘How high?’. This was to meet growing and unreasonable demands in return of not destroying my family.”
Kyle admits he should have told his wife the truth when Lauryn became pregnant again.
But he knew it would almost certainly end their marriage — and force him from the family home.
He said: “It was selfish. I didn’t tell her because I wanted to be with her and the kids. Should she have heard it from Lauryn? No, no.
“That was the least I owed her. I was aware that the clock was ticking and I still chose not to tell Annie.”
It was selfish. I didn’t tell her because I wanted to be with her and the children
Kyle Walker
But in a startling admission the World Cup star said: “I do and I don’t regret it.
“I regret not telling her because she had a right to know and that’s the least I owe my best friend.
“I don’t regret it selfishly because I got to spend days with my children.
“I got to take the kids to the World Cup — they were there.
“I’ve won a treble with City.
“To see my kids’ faces when we won the Champions League is something I’ll never forget.
“So whilst I deeply regret not telling Annie, I got to experience it as a family.
“It was a double-edged sword between my conscience being clean and losing my family.”
The full-back holds out the “unrealistic” hope Annie will give him another chance but accepts the misery he has inflicted on her.
He toys with his wedding ring as he ponders: “Would people think she was mad to take me back? One million per cent.”
A tattoo of the letter “A” for Annie is under his wedding band.
She too has “K” for Kyle inked onto her finger — but has ditched the ring.
Kyle adds: “People are entitled to their opinions, but they don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.
“We’re not perfect.
“Everyone goes through ups and downs in life.
“But I wouldn’t blame her if she divorced me.
“I would understand that she had got to a point where enough was enough.
“I have to respect her decision.
“I wouldn’t be angry or shocked if she did.
“The ball is firmly in her court on what she decides to do with the future.
“For me, again, I can keep on saying sorry but sorry’s not going to change anything.
“All I can do is build a better future with or without Annie.”
After Kyle fathered his first child with Lauryn, Annie described his betrayal as “obscene”.
But she took him back and they married in late 2021 at plush Mottram Hall in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
To not be there when she needs me the most, but to know that you’ve caused that hurt, that’s something I have to live with now
Kyle Walker
But their marriage was unable to escape from the shadow of his infidelity.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Kyle admits: “I lost a part of her.
“Up until probably about three months ago she never told me she loved me.
“She refused to tell me she loved me.
“She said when she felt she could tell me that again then she would. And then all of this happened.”
Kyle called Annie a “fantastic mum”, adding: “Recently, she has let me ring her phone which has been a massive help.
“That just shows the mum that she is to the kids.
“She doesn’t want to take that away.
“They have always wished me good luck before the games and they did before the FA Cup win against Tottenham.
“Little things like that show the character she has as a mum.
“No matter what happens, the girl, the woman, my wife, will be my best friend until I die.
“I’ll respect her decision fully.
“I can’t change the past.
“I can hopefully change the future.
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“Is it a reset button?
“The reset button should have been pushed the first time.”
So grateful to Pep and Southgate
GRATEFUL Kyle last night than-ked his Man City manager Pep Guardiola and England’s Gareth Southgate for standing by him.
Kyle called the Spaniard “unbelievable”. He said: “He didn’t know what was happening.
“I didn’t want to tell him because I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t mentally there.
“I can’t thank him enough for the understanding and belief he’s shown in me through four years.”
Pep, 53, made Kyle captain despite objections from some fans. And the pair embraced on the pitch last Friday after a 1-0 win against Spurs in the FA Cup.
Kyle was visibly emotional and punched the air repeatedly.
He said Southgate — who made him England captain against North Macedonia last year — sent a supportive text message after his latest sex scandal.
He declined to reveal details but said: “For your national team manager to reach out in a time of need goes beyond football.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
