Jess Hardiman
Footballer Kyle Walker has broken his silence after news that he had split from wife Annie Kilner.
Earlier this week, Kilner told her own followers that she had decided to 'take some time away from Kyle' after 'many years of marriage and three wonderful children together'.
"I am posting this in response to growing recent media enquiries about my marriage to Kyle and in an effort to protect my family against the intensity of the media spotlight," she explained.
Walker has now spoken out about the split himself, having shared a statement via Instagram.
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"Annie is an amazing woman and I can only apologise for the upset I've caused her," he said.
"She's been part of my life for so long and that will never change for the sake of our children.
"I would ask for privacy for all of our family, and especially our young children, whilst we work through these difficult times."
The former couple secretly tied the knot in 2021, having met when they were teenagers.
They went on to have three kids together - boys named Riaan, Roman and Reign who Kilner describes in her Instagram bio as '3 kings'.
Kilner previously expressed her hope to one day have a girl, telling OK! Magazine: “I really want a little girl. I love my boys, but I’d really like a daughter as I’m outnumbered in this house.”
She also revealed in 2020 that she had tragically suffered a miscarriage with her fourth child.
Walker is also dad to a son called Kairo, who he shares with social media star Lauryn Goodman, having got with her during a temporary split from Kilner in 2020.
Goodman has a five-month-daughter, whose name she has not yet publicly confirmed. She has also not shared details of who the child's father is.
In June 2020, Kilner opened up to The Sun about Walker's love child with Goodman, saying infidelity became 'acceptable' in their relationship.
She said: “In late March last year he was unfaithful with a reality TV star. I found out a month later and was broken by it. He begged me to take him back but by July he was at it again.
“Not even three months later and someone was pregnant. My youngest was one. Who does that?
“I don’t know what my thoughts or feelings are any more. I feel dead inside. Each day is filled with pain.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again because of what he’s done. It makes me really sad that I’ve been damaged so badly when I’ve done nothing to deserve it.
“I love Kyle dearly and I’ll always love him, but to do this to me... after three kids?
"I’ve tried to hate him but how can I hate the man my kids love so much? Before the infidelity he was my best friend, my soulmate. I could count on him for anything.
“But none of what I thought we had feels real because he stabbed me in the back.”