Former England striker Andy Carroll has thanked the public for their support after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted by a man. Carroll, 36, said he had feared he would never fully recover from the trauma of the incident, which happened at his home in 2021 during a second spell at Newcastle United.
The man Carroll identified as the perpetrator was television dance coach Kevin Adams, who appeared on the BBC series Fame Academy in 2002. Adams, a friend of Carroll’s former partner who was away at the time, was jailed for 20 months in 2023 after being convicted of sexual offences. Adams has not commented publicly since Carroll named him as the man who attacked him.
Carroll, who played for Liverpool and West Ham and is now a player and co-owner of National League South side Dagenham, described the assault in his autobiography ‘Owning It’. He said the incident happened while he was asleep. He subsequently threw the man out of his home before knocking him unconscious when he tried to get back inside.
Speaking to the Football Uncensored podcast, Carroll said the response to going public had been overwhelming. “I’ve been beating myself up about it, and as soon as I’ve said it the support that I’ve received has been massive,” he said. He added that if he had spoken five years ago when it happened, he might have felt a lot better now and then got over it.
“I’m happy with who I am, I’m happy with how I’ve dealt with it, and I’ve got the support around me with my partner, my family and friends, and now the public,” Carroll said. He described giving evidence in court as “humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous”. He said the experience had been “eating me alive inside for so long”, that there are certain things he will never get over, and that he now knows people can see who he was then, what he has been through, and that they help and support him.