In a recent interview with The Sun, Manchester City star and England international Kyle Walker said he solely blames himself for his wife’s decision to part ways with him after he was exposed for having secret children while they were married.
Walker’s wife, Annie, initially took him back after he got model Lauryn Goodman pregnant. The model also confirmed the 33-year-old right-back was her son’s father after she gave birth in April 2020. But Annie decided to part ways with Walker after he got Goodman pregnant for the second time.
“What I’ve done is horrible and I take full responsibility,” he said. “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,” he added. “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.”
Walker and Annie share three children and are expecting another child. The 33-year-old moved out of their matrimonial home in the wake of the revelation that he had fathered a second child with Goodman.
“I am a private man but I accept that I am a public figure and I need to address what I’ve done,” said Walker. “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.”
He added: “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.”
An emotional Walker also spoke about his son, saying, “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.”