For viewers, it is the most entertaining love scandal in football in years. Even though we claim to be above such things, we've all caught up on the details of Manchester City and England star Kyle Walker's latest and most convoluted national drama.
But for the two women at the center – and especially Walker's wife Annie Kilner – events begin to take an undeniably ugly turn.
To recap: Walker is the speedy full-back with 81 caps for England who married his childhood sweetheart Annie, 31, in 2022 and has three children with her, aged 12, eight and six, with another on the way.
At the same time, it emerged that he had slept at least twice with former beautician and influencer Lauryn Goodman, 33, who now also has two children with him, aged three and five months.
It was the revelation of the youngest child's paternity – by Lauryn, both privately to Annie and publicly in an interview with The Sun on Sunday two weeks ago – that sent emotions running high at WAG, leaving 33-year-old Kyle in a tearful Mea Culpa arranged in a well-thought-out attempt to win back the wronged Annie.
Walker married his childhood sweetheart Annie, 31, in 2022. Pictured: Kyle Walker and Annie Kilner at the Vincent Kompany Tackle4MCR Charity Dinner in 2019
At the same time, it emerged that he slept with former beautician and influencer Lauryn Goodman at least twice. Pictured: Lauryn Goodman at the world premiere of “Surviving Christmas with the Relatives” in 2018
Lauryn Goodman now also has two children aged three and five months
So far it's been a classic story about a football squad, two short-haired love rivals and a £3.5 million mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, which Kyle has now been evicted from by Annie.
Now, however, an increasingly dark, all-out feud begins to develop as Annie complains that she has been the subject of a Fatal Attraction-style campaign by Lauryn.
Annie's friends even say her love rival is trying to “stalk,” “goad” and “torture” her on social media, pointing to stunts like setting up an Instagram page for Lauryn and Walker's three-year-old child , Cairo, with a bio that includes the social media tags “Mom @lauryngoodman91, Dad @kylewalker2.” Not exactly a subtle hint.
According to sources, Kyle has been paying child support for his two children with Lauryn.
It appears she's apparently trying to use money from her former lover to catapult herself into the souped-up stratosphere of being a footballer's wife. She wasn't entirely successful yet.
So is it true that Lauryn waged a “campaign” as the Annie camp claims?
This suggestion follows a series of alleged social media posts. On Annie's birthday last summer, Lauryn reportedly tagged herself as if she was at the same location where the WAG was having her party, even though she apparently wasn't anywhere near it. (Lauryn has since set her Instagram to private and also deleted posts, so it's not possible to confirm this.)
At this point, Annie knew that Lauryn had given birth to a child by her husband. If this is true, then it seems to be a highly provocative act.
Kyle Walker is Manchester City's fast-paced full-back with 81 England caps to his name
Lauryn Goodman was spotted with her children after former flame Kyle Walker gave a bombshell interview with The Sun
Kyle Walker's ex Annie Kilner holds her huge bag with mixed emoji faces printed on it as she leaves the gym without her wedding ring
Additionally, the day before, Lauryn had reportedly posted a video of herself in the Cheshire village where Annie lives, accompanied by a “psst” emoji – the little yellow face with a finger on her lips – and the Chris Brown song ” Take You Down.” play.
At this time, Lauryn was also photographed house hunting in Cheshire in pre-arranged paparazzi shots.
Similarly, Lauryn was photographed again by a randomly placed photographer while vacationing in the Dominican Republic last week. Their baby son Cairo was spotted on the beach “learning to play football” – a mini-me shot that's sure to put a dagger in Kyle's wife's heart, especially since Annie is currently seven months pregnant.
Matters got even murkier yesterday when news sites got a picture of Kyle with Cairo and videos of him playing with the child – kicking a football and playing hide-and-seek – in what friends of Annie say is further evidence of Lauryn's life 'campaign'.
Others will see this as Lauryn's attempt to get revenge on Kyle for the rather crass interview he gave over the weekend in which he claimed that their daughter was the result of nothing more than a one-night stand and his “idiotic decisions “.
“Kyle claimed he barely had a relationship with Lauryn in a desperate attempt to win back Annie – who will be stunned by these images of their close family ties,” says a friend of Lauryn's.
A spokesman for Kyle declined to comment.
It's a saga that shows how isolated and downright un-sisterly the life of a WAG can be.
Pregnant Annie Kilner leaves Kyle Walker with a new puppy
Annie complains that she was the subject of a “Fatal Attraction”-style campaign by Lauryn (pictured 2017).
In the original interview where the name of the father of her second child was revealed, Lauryn said she was the one who wanted everything to be public.
“I didn't want her [Kyle and Annie] to break up or cause harm, but it had to go public for the good of everyone,” she then said, explaining that she had a FaceTime conversation with Annie in December last year and showed her her daughter's DNA test.
Lauryn claimed that she and Kyle had a long relationship and that Kyle led a double life, pitting the two women against each other.
Kyle's response in an interview with The Sun on Sunday was to call Annie his soulmate and desperately beg her forgiveness. He spoke sadly of “idiotic decisions and idiotic decisions.”
He also claimed, in a manner that perhaps exceeds credibility, that he had only slept with Lauryn twice – the first time during a brief marital separation from Annie – and both infidelities resulted in the birth of a child. The message Kyle wanted to convey was clearly that there had never been a real relationship with Lauryn.
“There was no relationship. That's something Lauryn could never say. “We’ve never been out to dinner, we’ve never been to the movies,” Kyle said. “Have a relationship with someone.” . . Would she even know how much sugar I have in my coffee if I had sugar? She couldn't tell you.'
Yesterday, Lauryn responded via Instagram: “Flat white, no sugar please.”
A spokesman for Lauryn later said: “She is disappointed by his deluded version of events, which differs dramatically from her own recollection of their long-standing, intimate, affectionate and loving relationship.”
Annie Kilner arrives at the gym for her morning workout after leaving Kyle Walker
Kyle's response in an interview with The Sun on Sunday was to call Annie (pictured) his soulmate and desperately beg her for forgiveness
“After many years of reading through the messages sent between them to make sure her memory is correct, she is puzzled by how he seems to have forgotten their many very personal conversations and memories she had with her children as a family have led.”
“The story he presents to the public does not correspond to reality.”
Meanwhile, Kyle's rep said: “Kyle has spoken fully and honestly about his mistakes and the true situation with Lauryn.” He has retained lawyers and will not comment further on the wild and untrue stories she is spreading in the media to promote to make oneself and achieve financial gain.”
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this riveting scandal is that Annie appears to direct most of her anger at Lauryn rather than her husband (whom she has sent to a nearby apartment while she ponders his shortcomings).
One of Annie's friends spoke this week about how Lauryn “made Annie a single mom by sleeping with Kyle.” Note that Kyle appears to be absolved of any guilt there.
On Monday evening, Annie's sister Sian – another well-groomed young woman who looks like Annie's twin – posted a lengthy statement on social media accusing Lauryn of “evil” behavior.
Sian tagged Lauryn and wrote: “@lauryngoodman91 When will your torment end?” My sister, now seven months pregnant, has been dealing with your cruelty for almost five years.
'What is your goal? To see how much stress you can impose on a pregnant woman? To create a false victim narrative around what you did? You obviously lack empathy, but this level of evil is out of control and harming everyone – especially children.”
Annie's sister Sian – another well-groomed young woman who looks like Annie's twin – posted a lengthy statement on social media accusing Lauryn of “evil” behavior. Pictured: Annie and Sian together
Lauryn claimed that she and Kyle had a long relationship and that Kyle led a double life, pitting the two women against each other
Sian disputed Lauryn's claim that she and Walker had a loving relationship, adding: “Stop blaming others; Your true self is revealed. The so-called “love relationship” is a facade. “It’s not fooling anyone, so why don’t you just give us a break and stop.”
Friends of Annie also say that Lauryn, who has been friends with Kyle since he was 20, has twice tried to befriend Annie in a way that, in retrospect, “looks a bit like a single white woman.” Film in which a young woman plays A woman becomes unhealthy obsessed with another person.
In fact, the first contact between the two women took place in 2019. In March of this year, Kyle made idiotic decisions again by playing with a woman named Laura Brown, former star of the MTV reality show Ex On The Beach. In the parlance of football sex scandals, Laura claimed she and Kyle had a “romp”; and when Annie demanded evidence, she is said to have sent her a selfie she had taken at the Walker-Kilner family home.
Annie immediately dumped Kyle, who begged her to take him back.
Lauryn was apparently among those who contacted Annie to express her condolences.
However, in July, Kyle and Lauryn became lovers – and she became pregnant with Cairo.
In a 2020 interview, Annie said: “Last year he was unfaithful to a reality TV star.” I found out a month later and was devastated. He begged me to take him back, but by July he was at it again. Not even three months later, someone was pregnant. My youngest was one. Who does that?'
In November 2021, Annie and Kyle, who met at school, were back together and soon married. But as Kyle has now admitted, he slept with Lauryn again in October 2022 while receiving treatment for a groin strain in London.
Friends of Kyle say Lauryn put him under enormous pressure in the months leading up to that phone call that derailed his marriage
The second time Lauryn allegedly tried to befriend Annie came after she called her in December last year to tell her that her husband had fathered a second child with her. Lauryn even suggested teaming up to do joint interviews about Kyle. Lauryn's view, friends of Annie's say, was that they were “both his victims.”
Meanwhile, friends of Kyle say Lauryn put him under enormous pressure in the months leading up to that phone call that derailed his marriage.
In his interview with The Sun, Kyle said: “Lauryn had me on the fence since October when she told me about the second child.” She was in a position of control where, when she asked me to jump, I responded: “How high?”'
“This was to meet the growing and unreasonable demands and, in return, to ensure that my family would not be destroyed.”
Among these “unreasonable demands,” Lauryn allegedly told him that he was not allowed to have any more children with his wife and that he was not allowed to buy a new house with her – with the ever-present threat that she would tell his wife about the second love child if he got out of the country Row dances.
Lauryn was also said to have objected to Kyle having the names of his children with Annie – Riaan, Reign and Roman – sewn onto his soccer cleats because the names of his children with Lauryn were missing.
There was no response from Lauryn's publicist to these allegations yesterday.
Although friends insist she was wronged because he used her for sex, allegedly lied to her all the time, bought her numerous gifts and performed a “doting daddy routine” with her children. One said; “She's naive and was stupid.” She thought he loved her; He just wanted sex on tap.'
But the consequences of the affair continue.
The irony of it all is that the way the affair played out in recent days – Lauryn hired her own publicist and took multiple actions against the couple – has served to bring Kyle and Annie closer together.
I'm told, 'Kyle and Annie put their children first.' They will do what they can now and in the future to stay united, whatever that looks like.”
This doesn't sound like the divorce everyone was expecting.
Perhaps we can only hope that Annie, who finds herself at the center of a gossipy scandal not of her own making, receives good advice.