By Martin Robinson, Editor, Andy Jehring and Charlotte Gill
15:24 Jul 30, 2024, updated 16:11 Jul 30, 2024
Lauryn Goodman texted Annie Kilner shortly after Christmas Day to inform her that Kyle Walker was the father of her youngest child, it can be reported for the first time today.
Ms Kilner was six months pregnant and home alone when Ms Goodman messaged her with the shock news on December 27 last year.
“Hey, it’s Lauryn, just wanted to quickly let you know that Kyle is the father of our daughter,” the text message to Annie read.
Annie, who has four sons with the England and Manchester City defender, immediately kicked Walker out of the family home for the second time in their relationship.
The first time the Premier League star was cast out by his childhood sweetheart was three years earlier, when Goodman had her first child, Kairo, and publicly named Walker as the father.
Goodman claimed in court that she had sent a message to Ms Kilner to reveal that Walker was the father of her second child, Kinara Storm, “to sort things out” and “to calm things down”.
But Judge Edward Hess, who ruled today in the extraordinary legal battle over child support Walker had with influencer Goodman, rejected his explanation of the text.
He said he did not believe it was an “attempt to create a good working relationship between the two women”, concluding instead that it was part of a longer campaign to “undermine” Walker’s marriage.
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In the days leading up to Christmas last year, Lauryn all but denounced Walker in a series of social media posts, including an Instagram photo of her daughter with the caption, “I am a lion.”
Then, knowing that Annie – then pregnant with her fourth child – was home alone while her husband played football on December 27, she sent a message revealing the secret.
Goodman claimed that her “friend,” Walker’s neighbor, had already told Annie, but that Walker “made sure she didn’t believe it.”
Lauryn had been in contact with the neighbour for at least 16 months – and had asked her to spy on the couple and even record them, the judge was told.
Nicola Saxton KC, who represented Kyle Walker in the High Court, asked Lauryn: “You texted Annie on December 27 when she was six months pregnant to tell her you had two children with Kyle.
Ms Goodman replied: “My friend texted him to tell him [the child] It was Kyle’s. The message came from me, through a friend.
Lauryn claimed that Annie already had “an idea” and “asked [Walker] “repeatedly.” But on December 27, she sent the message through the neighbor.
She claimed she was “losing weight” and “not eating” because Walker “lied” to her and did not admit that Annie was pregnant again.
Asked whether she was “acting out of anger” when she sent the message, Goodman said: “I wanted to sort things out so all the boys could have a relationship. If we could sort this out, maybe we could move forward. We had a normal conversation. That’s how I felt.”
Miss Saxton KC said: “You knew Annie was alone with her three children, six months pregnant, and you sent the text message while Kyle was away playing football.”
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Judge Hess ruled: “This was intended to cause distress to the father’s wife, and it did in fact occur.
“I do not accept the mother’s explanation that this text message was sent in an attempt to create a good working relationship between the two women in the father’s life.
“In my view, this text was written in a similar vein to the series of text communications with the father’s neighbour in Cheshire in which the mother sought to persuade the neighbour to record conversations over the garden fence in order to obtain material to undermine the father’s marriage.
“When the mother texted the neighbor saying ‘Ready to end it,’ she had in mind to cause irreparable damage to the father’s marriage.”
The love triangle began in 2020 when Goodman had her first child, Kairo, and publicly named Walker as the father.
His childhood sweetheart, Annie, who he had been with since they were teenagers at school, furiously kicked him out of the family home.
A funding application for Kairo was processed through the courts “painfully and expensively” for two years.
Walker was ordered to buy Goodman a £1.85 million home, but within 60 miles of a Sussex town to prevent him from being near his family, and to pay maintenance of £8,000 a month.
The footballer also paid more than £600,000 in legal fees for both sides, wrote off £40,000 of her debts and spent more than £100,000 in total on a nanny, furniture and a car.
Walker cut ties with his ex-mistress and moved back in with Annie, with whom he has four sons: Roman, 11, Riaan, seven, Reign, five, and Rezon, three months.
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It was a “source of disappointment, anxiety and anger” for Goodman, who threatened to move near his family’s pile of assets in Cheshire – which would be in breach of the order – and made enquiries of nearby estate agents.
In August 2022, the influencer saw Walker at his lawyer’s office and, remarkably, contact between the two resumed.
Then, after travelling to London for groin surgery in October, they met again and nine months later their second child, a daughter, was born.
Within 48 hours of giving birth, Goodman filed a “financial redress application” asking for the child support, already at £110,000 a year for their son, to be increased to £177,000.
Knowing that Walker wanted to keep their daughter’s birth a secret, she made demands while “hinting that she would make it public.”
The England vice-captain has agreed to buy her a £2.4million property in Sussex and splash out more than £120,000 on wardrobes, blinds and curtains, sofas and garden furniture.
This did not seem enough, however, to buy Goodman’s silence, who, according to the judge, “clearly had no intention of keeping the matter secret.”
Today, Judge Hess ruled in favour of the footballer on almost all points of contention, saying he found him to be “reasonable, honest and reliable”.
After the two-day trial ended, Goodman hurried away as Walker addressed reporters gathered outside: “I hope you had a good time, I won’t be coming back here again.”
Following the case, a spokeswoman for Walker said today: “This judgment speaks for itself in laying bare Lauryn Goodman’s insatiable greed and relentless pursuit of money.
“The judge was clear: she used Kyle like an open checkbook and threatened him repeatedly in order to get what she wanted.
“She then orchestrated a media campaign to fuel an intolerable and unjustified intrusion into the privacy of Kyle, Annie and their young family.
“Throughout every court proceeding, the judge said Kyle took a fair and generous position.
“These procedures were never necessary. Kyle’s offer should have been accepted months ago and would have avoided additional stress for everyone involved.
“In light of this judgment and the truths it makes public, my client and his family now ask that the media fully respect their right to privacy as they take their next steps.”
