Annie Walker and Lauryn Goodman head for Wag War Two: Kyle Walker's wife is ... trends now
ALTHOUGH she wasn't photographed, Annie Walker — the long-suffering wife of Manchester City's star philanderer Kyle — did show up at the Etihad stadium on Wednesday night to watch him play in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Her presence was poignant, not just because she'd given birth only days earlier. She brought along all four of their boys, including the newborn — sending a message about their unity as a family, and Kyle's sterling qualities as a father to the children he loves very deeply.
Yet, if anyone thinks this signifies a period of peace and calm in the Walker household, they'd be wrong.
For it can be revealed, almost two years to the day after the start of the 'Wagatha Christie' trial, between warring football wives, Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, which gripped the world (and handsomely lined some lawyers' pockets), another clash is about to be unleashed. This time it involves Annie and Walker's ex-mistress Lauryn Goodman, and it could prove a worthy rival to the first courtroom drama.
For anyone who has missed this long-running saga, the circumstances are complicated to say the least.
When the whole mess came out , Kyle made a lengthy public apology to wife Annie, pictured
Meanwhile, Annie has been taking legal advice over a flurry of social media posts by Lauryn Goodman, above, mostly made on Instagram stories
Kyle was dispatched to a rented apartment away from the family home, where he remains
Manchester City star Walker promises he will never have any contact with Lauryn again
In January, Walker left the £3.5 million family home in Prestbury, Cheshire, after Instagram 'influencer' Lauryn Goodman let Annie know that Kyle was the father of her daughter.
Annie had already accepted that three years previously, Lauryn had given birth to her son Kairo after a fling with him.
This latest transgression was too much to bear, and Kyle, the father of her then three children Roman, 11, Riaan, seven, and Reign, five, was dispatched to a rented apartment nearby.
There he remains.
When the whole mess came out into the open, Kyle made a lengthy public apology to Annie, admitting to 'idiot choices and idiot decisions'.
Annie's friends say she has yet to decide if they can make a go of their marriage. She is in no hurry to reach a decision.
One factor which continues to weigh is that — according to her friends and contrary to previous reports — she and Kyle had not split up and were not on a break when he fathered Kairo.
The second transgression then gives her even more to mull over.
People who know them both well think they will 'probably' work things out, eventually, but observe that football is a 'very seedy world' and that the combination of money and adulation has a sadly warping effect on the ordinary young men in it.
You only have to look at the marital woes of the Rooneys to see proof of that.
The Walkers pictured on holiday with one of their children
This summer, all of Annie and Kyle's children will cheer him on at the Euro championships in Germany
Annie poses in a glamorous shot shared on her Instagram page
Lauryn, pictured, could potentially end up with a fine and a restraining order if a civil action against her succeeded
Friends of Annie tell me: 'She is very much like Coleen. She's just a normal down-to-earth girl. Like Coleen, she has married her school sweetheart. She has dealt with a lot and it has been very distressing, but she has no intention of being walked all over.
'Ultimately this is not about fighting over a man — not at all. That has all been settled. Kyle wants to be with Annie and it's up to Annie whether they can get past what he has done. Kyle promises he will never have any contact with Lauryn again.
'This is about Annie wanting to protect her children and to get them some privacy. It's not acceptable to her to have them used in arguments and to have all this drama. She wants to move on from the drama, she does want it to end.'
For now, the Walkers are moving forward as a family, with Kyle seeing as much of the children as he likes, and being reportedly present in the hospital to support Annie when she gave birth. Both are 'overjoyed' that the infant has arrived safely.
And this summer, all four boys, plus Annie, will cheer on Kyle at the Euro championships in Germany.
The last outing of his children with Annie — when they ran out as mascots before an England game last month — drew a perhaps predictable, sour response from Lauryn. A 'source', possibly Lauryn's spokesman Simon Boyle, commented: 'It's a shame to see children wheeled out as part of a row between adults and his many infidelities. Lauryn couldn't be less bothered and says he will be an overweight bald nobody soon.'
Sources on the other side say the boys appeared in an expression of familial pride and it was nothing to do with a row over infidelity.
Meanwhile, a court date has been set for a ruling to be made about financial support for Lauryn Goodman and her two children. (Lauryn has not disclosed the name of the daughter she had in August last year.) That will be a private hearing in the family court in July.
Kyle Walker already supports the children and it's believed settling out of court has been discussed, but the feeling from the Walker camp is that they want the certainty
