04 February 2024 , 19:01
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Footballer Kyle Walker has instructed new lawyers to try to stop the “mudslinging” over his relationship with Lauryn Goodman.
The Man City star’s marriage to wife Annie Kilner, seven months pregnant with their fourth child, has been in tatters since it was revealed he had fathered a second child with Lauryn.
Now he has enlisted London firm Payne Hicks Beach, experts in dispute resolution, to draw a line under the affair to protect the children, and bring an end to the “tsunami of false allegations that are in no one’s best interests”.
A pal said England ace Walker hoped they could “all move on like adults rather than endless mudslinging”.
Walker, 33, has a three-year-old son, Kairo, with Lauryn, who told Annie on Boxing Day that he was also the father of her five-month-old daughter.
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Walker and Annie Kilner (EMPICS Entertainment)
Lauryn Goodman (GC Images)Lauryn, 33, gave an interview at the weekend telling of her “agony” after Walker described her relationship with him as a “mistake”. She told the Daily Mail: “I can take it from strangers, but hearing that from their dad was unimaginably cruel.
“People can’t imagine the challenge of having a three-year-old boy who is aware of his dad and sees him in adverts, on TV, on billboards every week it’s huge. Nobody understands what it is like when a young boy points to a photo of his dad and just wants to see him. It breaks my heart.”
A source close to Walker, who has three sons by Annie, said: “Kyle has pointedly not spoken about the children as he wants to keep their names out of everything. But Lauryn seems determined to play that card, which is one of the reasons why lawyers have been instructed to try and bring an end to these games.”
Walker with his family at the Club World Cup (AFP via Getty Images)A spokeswoman said: “Kyle and Annie are disappointed that Lauryn continues to seek publicity and financial gain by promoting false, defamatory and intrusive media stories about them and their children. Apart from being factually inaccurate, these stories take no account of the best interests of the children. The matter is with their lawyers.”
Walker and Annie, 31, are now living separately, insiders predicting she would be entitled to half his estimated £35million fortune should they divorce.
Annie had posted: “Sadly, after many years of marriage and three wonderful children together, I have decided to take some time away from Kyle.”
He wrote: “Annie is an amazing woman and I can only apologise for the upset I’ve caused her. She’s been part of my life for so long and that will never change for the sake of our children.”