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Former England striker Andy Carroll has thanked the public for their support after speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted by a man.<\/b><\/p>\n
Carroll, 36, 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.<\/p>\n
The perpetrator, 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.<\/p>\n
Carroll identified the man<\/a> as television dance coach Kevin Adams in an interview with the Sun. Adams appeared on the BBC series Fame Academy in 2002.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Football Uncensored podcast, Carroll said the response to going public with his experience had been overwhelming.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “And I think that’s the main thing really for me, that if I said that five years ago when it happened, maybe I would have felt a lot better now and then got over it.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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’.<\/p>\n He said the incident happened while he was asleep. <\/p>\n He subsequently threw the man out of his home before knocking him unconscious when he tried to get back inside.<\/p>\n Carroll described giving evidence in court as “humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous”. <\/p>\n “It was eating me alive inside for so long,” Carroll said. “There’s certain things you can’t get over, and I’ll never, ever get over that.<\/p>\n “But now I know that people can see who I was then, in that time, and what I’ve been through and they help me and support me.”<\/p>\n Adams has not commented publicly since Carroll named him as the man who attacked him.<\/p>\n Details of help and support with sexual abuse or violence is available. <\/i>BBC Action Line<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n