"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," A. Carroll said on the BBC. He added that keeping the trauma hidden for years made it harder to carry, and that speaking openly brought relief. The former England striker is 36.
The silence before he spoke
Carroll said the hardest part was carrying it alone. "It was eating me alive inside for so long," he said, and he also said that if he had spoken five years ago, when it happened, he might have felt better by now. That is the part of the interview that lands hardest, because the delay is part of what he is trying to explain.
The assault he described happened at his home in 2021 during his second spell at Newcastle. Carroll said the response to going public with his experience had been overwhelming on the Football Uncensored podcast, and that he now has support from his partner, family, friends and the public.
The case and the aftermath
The man Carroll named was jailed for 20 months in 2023 after being convicted of sexual offences. Carroll also described giving evidence in court as humiliating, embarrassing and absolutely horrendous. He identified the man as television dance coach Kevin Adams, and said he had appeared on Fame Academy in 2002.
Carroll also said there are some things he will never get over, which is why the public reaction matters so much in his telling. The football side of his career sits in the background here, with the story instead built around what happened in 2021, the court case that followed, and the fact he chose to speak about it publicly now.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
