Lauryn Goodman, ex-girlfriend of England vice-captain Kyle Walker, has explained her decision to take her son to Frankfurt to watch the Euro match, which Walker's wife Annie Kilner also attended.
Manchester City star Walker, 34, publicly apologized in January when it was revealed he had cheated on his wife, Kilner, with his ex-girlfriend Goodman, who was expecting her second child with the footballer.
Goodman shares a daughter and four-year-old son, Kairo, with Walker. The footballer also has four children with his wife, Kilner, to whom he has been married since 2022.
Goodman, who is a model and influencer, faced criticism from people on social media when she took Kairo to watch her father play in the England vs Denmark match in Frankfurt on Thursday (June 20), which Kilner also attended.
She has since defended that decision in an interview, explaining that the reason for the trip was to fulfill a “promise” that the footballer had made to Kairo over FaceTime in 2022 – when she was secretly pregnant with her second child – and he was playing. . at the World Cup in Qatar.
She said The Daily Mail that Walker promised Kairo that he would “make sure he was in the next tournament because [Walker] “He's getting older and I knew there might not be any more opportunities.”
“There was no way I wasn't taking Kairo to the Euros,” he continued. “There was no way I wasn't going to keep the promise Kyle made to his son. This could have been his last chance, so he wanted it to be something Kairo could remember forever.”
Speaking before the match about possible negative reactions to his decision, he said: “We are not here to please other people. “It’s about Kairo and what’s best for him and what will make him happy.”
She refused to be “scapegoated or bullied and made to feel like a villain,” stating that her children are her “priority.”
At the match, Kairo wore his father's number two soccer jersey with the word “Dad” printed on it. Walker's four children, whom he shares with Kilner, also wore T-shirts with the number two that read “Dad.”
Walker and Kilner met 15 years ago. The footballer reportedly met Goodman while he and Kilner were on break.
After it was revealed that Goodman was secretly pregnant with Kairo, Walker and his wife decided to stay together in Cheshire while Goodman raised their son in Hove, East Sussex.
Goodman said his son was very “excited” to see his father perform live for the first time.
“I'd been counting the days,” he said of Kairo's enthusiasm for the game. “I was excited to get on the plane. I wouldn't stop talking about it. He kept saying: 'When are we going to the Euro Cup to see dad?'
When asked if she was worried about meeting Kilner at the game, Goodman said she was “not afraid” of meeting someone else.
“It doesn't cross my mind, I don't think about it at all. I couldn't care less. I just get on with things,” she said. “I was there for Kairo, no one else, and if anyone has a problem, it's their problem, not mine.”
