Ex-England player Carroll names attacker as TV dance coach

Former England footballer Andy Carroll has told the Sun newspaper the man who sexually assaulted him in 2021 was TV dance coach Kevin Adams.

The 37-year-old striker first revealed he had been assaulted in his autobiography Owning It, which was published last month. The book did not name his attacker.

Adams, who appeared on the BBC series Fame Academy from 2002, was given a custodial sentence for the assault in 2023, BBC News understands.

He was found guilty following a trial in September of that year and sentenced to 20 months imprisonment the following November at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The newspaper said Carroll had decided to name Adams after becoming aware his attacker's name was in publicly available court documents.

Carroll previously said he was attacked while he was asleep by a friend of his former partner, who had visited his home to watch a boxing match. Carroll was playing for his boyhood club Newcastle United at the time.

He said he was being assaulted when he woke up and threw his attacker out of the house, before knocking him unconscious when he tried to return.

Carroll said in his autobiography that he had "spent a lot of time discussing whether to mention it in this book or not", adding: "I avoided my publisher for so long that they probably suspected I got cold feet."

He wrote: "Scary to talk about but it's made [me] the person I am today as much as any of the good stuff. And if me talking about it helps just one person then good, it will have been worth it."

Adams made several TV appearances as a dancer or dance instructor from the late 1990s onwards.

He has not commented publicly since Carroll named him as the man who attacked him.

Details of help and support with sexual abuse or violence is available. BBC Action Line.