2 weeks ago
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It was, for a long time, a running joke between showbiz publicists: if you were to spot any British celebrity, not far away would be Kevin Adams.
At one time a mere backing dancer who yearned for superstardom, Adams certainly had a talent for networking, and could turn any celeb – the more famous the better – into his best friend.
As a result, his little black book was full to bursting as he became a trusted part of stars’ inner circles.
Having made his name as a dance coach on BBC’s Fame Academy, Adams was even at the bedside of former Big Brother star Jade Goody in her final days before she died of cervical cancer.
But in recent days, a more sinister side to Essex-born Kevin has emerged. Last week, it was confirmed that he was the one who had sexually assaulted former England footballer Andy Carroll.
Adams, now 59, was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2023 and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register over the incident, which took place while the striker was asleep.
Describing what happened in his recent autobiography, Carroll revealed he had woken up after having ‘a few drinks’ to find an unnamed man attempting to give him oral sex, and said the experience had had a ‘devastating impact on my life and loved ones’.
Carroll threw him out of the house and knocked him unconscious when he tried to return.
He later named Adams as his attacker after discovering that his identity was contained in public court documents.
Andy Carroll described being sexually assaulted by Kevin Adams in his autobiography... although he didn't name his assailant until later
Describing their relationship before the assault, Carroll wrote: ‘He was always asking me and my ex to go out with him and even buys me clothes. He is divorced with kids but I can’t shift the feeling he likes me more than a platonic way.
‘Whenever I bump into him at parties, he is always with young boys.’
Yet the revelations about Adams have, however, come as a surprise to many who have known and worked with him over many years.
Adams danced for Boyzone in 1998, appeared on Top Of The Pops as a backing dancer for Cher, and went on to choreograph for Mariah Carey, the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, Robbie Williams and Louise Redknapp.
From 2002, he coached contestants on Fame Academy, appeared on Comic Relief, and taught children choreography for Disney Channel’s High School Musical.
My source tells me: ‘In his heyday, Kevin knew everyone because he went to every showbiz party.
‘He was on the very first dance reality show before we’d even thought about Strictly.
‘And working with the biggest A-list talent, like the Spice Girls, really opened doors for him even more. It’s shocking to think he was that close to all of these people, some of them are deeply distraught. It’s awful.’
Meanwhile, away from the stage, Adams was also close to Jeff Brazier, the father of Jade’s sons Bobby and Freddy.
Jade met Adams through Jeff, and he became a central figure in her life as her personal trainer.
Their friendship grew so close that he moved into her home to help oversee her fitness regime.
He remained by her side as her illness progressed, helped care for her and was later a pallbearer at her funeral.
But a source says the relationship was calculated to benefit Adams, and that Jade would have been shocked at the latest revelations about the star.
‘Kevin was big pals with the people at Now magazine where Jade was a columnist, and they fed each other’s connections,’ says my source.
‘There was a view taken by those who knew her that he used her as he was desperate for fame and to live that lifestyle – any celebrity that would show him attention, he would latch on to.’
I’m told Jade’s husband Jack Tweed, whom she married after her relationship with Jeff, was ‘never happy with the relationship between the pair’.
Adams, second from right, on Fame Academy with David Grant, Jeremy Milne, Richard Park and Carrie Grant in 2003
Adams became a personal trainer to Jade Goody and they became such close friends that he remained at her side when her cancer progress, helped care for her and was later a pallbearer at her funeral
And when Kevin was more than willing to speak to the Press outside Jade’s home, on the day of her death in 2009, it also raised eyebrows.
He has continued to talk about it. In 2019, marking ten years since her death on his private Instagram, he wrote: ‘It has been ten years since my friend Jade Goody was taken from us, but it feels like yesterday. Cancer can rob us of time.’
Adams’ connections extended to other familiar faces, too, including Caroline Flack, whom he had trained to dance as a teenager.
Once again, after she passed away in 2020, he gave interviews to the media.
For those who knew him during those years, Kevin had become a familiar presence in the world of celebrity, moving between television studios, dance floors and the private lives of well-known names.
And there is no doubt that he has huge talent and has enjoyed a stellar dance career.
He was UK and European aerobics champion, ranked fourth in the world for two consecutive years. After leaving theatre school, he performed with the London City Ballet before moving into choreography and television from the late 1990s onwards.
After two series of Fame Academy, he worked as a fitness instructor on GMTV and became a familiar presence in BBC and ITV studios, including an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing’s spin-off, It Takes Two, in 2021.
Before his conviction, he also ran a children’s dance school, the Kevin Adams Academy in Harlow, which appears to have shut down in 2022.
His professional biography described him as a ‘qualified dance teacher and fitness expert who has trained in LA, New York and London’.
It is not clear whether his marriage has survived. He married Helen Dunlevy in 2005 at the Manor Groves Hotel near Sawbridgeworth, surrounded by celebrity friends including Alesha Dixon, David Beckham’s sister Joanne and Jade Goody.
The couple have two daughters who have remained out of the spotlight. The house they bought in May 2008, a four-bedroom detached home in Harlow, was sold in June 2017.
My sources say the sale came at a time when he needed money.
But quite how he is faring today remains unclear. Sources say most will have cast him aside for good after Carroll’s confession.
‘Kevin’s work put him in the room with some of the biggest names in British showbusiness, while his friendship with Jade brought him into the orbit of one of the most talked-about women of her generation.
‘But now we know who he really is, Kevin is in a very different position.’
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