England star: I was abused by my great uncle
A FORMER England football star who found new fans after appearing on TV reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! has revealed details of horrific sexual abuse he suffered as a boy.
Kieron Dyer, a gifted midfielder who won 33 international caps, describes a traumatic assault by an uncle which blighted his life for more than 20 years.
Dyer was staying at his grandmother’s home in Ipswich when, aged either 11 or 12, he was attacked by her brother, his greatuncle Kenny, one evening when they were alone.
In a brutally frank i nt erview with The Mail on Sunday’s Chief Sports Writer Oliver Holt, Dyer recalls: ‘I had this thing about denim jeans when I was a kid. I loved the feel of them and often I’d fall asleep on my mum’s lap when she was wearing them.
‘ This particular Friday night, Kenny was wearing jeans and I fell asleep on his lap while I was watching TV. Then I woke up. I woke up but I was scared to open my eyes. Kenny had slipped his hand down my trousers while I was asleep and he was fondling me. I froze. I was petrified. I didn’t know what to do.
‘Kenny must have sensed that I’d woken up because he started shushing me and trying to reassure me. He kept asking me to let him finish what he was doing. It was like he was in a trance. ‘He said he’d buy me loads of chocolate. He pulled my trousers all the way down to my ankles. I knew he was doing something terribly wrong but I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t do anything. Then he bent his head down into my lap. I managed to push him away. I pulled my trousers back up. He said, “Don’t tell anyone, this is our secret.” ’ Kenny died when Kieron was 21.
Dyer, now 39, who came fourth in I’m A Celebrity in 2015, played for Newcastle, West Ham and Ipswich before retiring in 2013. His attitude cast a shadow over his sometimes controversial career and in 2011 he finally had counselling. ‘I thought my stubbornness, not letting people in, going through mood swings… I thought that was who I was. I didn’t realise it was the abuse that formed the person I became.’
He says he is now at peace and wants to encourage other abused children to come forward for help.