Andy Carroll has confirmed that he was a victim of sexual violence by a dance teacher on the BBC program “Fame Academy”. It is a well-known name in England: 59-year-old Kevin Adams was the main coach on the reality show that aimed to discover new talents – a format that we also know well in Italy in different versions – in 2002, but he returned to the spotlight later, in 2021, again as a coach on “Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two”, also on the BBC. During his career, Adams has choreographed some big names in music, including Mariah Carey, Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, Cher, Boyzone, Louise Redknapp and Dannii Minogue.
Kevin Adams is a very well-known figure in Britain
"Now that Kevin Adams has been named in court documents as my aggressor, I can confirm it," Carroll said in recent hours, after learning that the name of the person who had harassed him was in publicly accessible court documents. "I hope I can finally put this chapter behind me. This has had a devastating impact on my life and that of my loved ones."
The incident of harassment was revealed by the 37-year-old English striker – who currently plays for Dag & Red in the sixth division, a far cry from the glory days of Newcastle and Liverpool, as well as the Three Lions under Capello – in his newly published autobiography. Carroll explained that he had suffered a “traumatic” attack several years ago, but had only decided to reveal it “at the last minute”, after lengthy discussions with his publisher. And reading the gruesome details of the incident, it is not difficult to understand why: the footballer wrote that he had woken up after a few drinks to find his “famous friend” attempting to perform oral sex on him in bed, under the covers.
Carroll with his newly published autobiography
"I was sexually assaulted, I told you. It's terrifying to think about, and before that only a few people knew," is the introduction to his written account. Carroll explained that he was attacked the evening after a Newcastle game, when Adams had invited himself to his house to watch a boxing match: "He starts making cocktails. I start to feel a little dizzy and I think he may have given me something. 'Okay, it's time for bed,' I say, 'I'll call you a taxi.' 'Oh no,' he says, 'I'll sleep in the guest room.'"
Later that night, Carroll woke up to find Adams sexually assaulting her: “I sleep naked and when I wake up, there’s this guy under the covers trying to give me a blowjob.” Andy continued to “slap him” while demanding that he leave the house: “I slap him as hard as I can and he falls to the ground. I grab his legs and drag him out into the alley in front of the house. I go back inside, lock the door and call the police and the nanny. And then it suddenly occurs to me: what if I killed him? He came to his senses just as the police were arriving and immediately started telling the officers that I had hit him for no reason. As a result, the police arrested him and I had to go to the police station too.”
The case then ended in court and in 2023 Adams was found guilty of sexual offences and sentenced to 20 months in prison. Even before the judge, he had tried to defend himself by claiming that he had been attacked by Carroll, but his version did not gain any credibility. Before the conviction, Adams ran a children's dance school, Kevin Adams Academy: records show that the company ceased operations in 2022. About him, Carroll said in the book: "He was always asking me and my ex-partner to go out with him and even bought me clothes. He is divorced and has children, but I can't shake the feeling that he feels something more for me than just friendship. Whenever I met him at parties, he was always in the company of young boys."
Kevin Adams sentenced to 20 months in prison for assaulting Carroll
The events that followed inevitably became the subject of court debate. Carroll described the process as “humiliating, embarrassing and absolutely horrific”. “The case dragged on for two years,” the footballer added. “Nobody, apart from my partner and her family, knew. The police called me to tell me he had been found guilty and I started crying uncontrollably. What happened to me has affected every aspect of my life. I thought about it every day, which made it difficult for me to concentrate on anything else, including football. The trauma of what happened to me has not gone away. Lou (Teasdale, his current partner, ed. note) and I spent a lot of time debating whether or not to mention it in this book. I avoided my publisher for so long that they probably suspected I had withdrawn.” Now Andy can try to put it all behind him.
