SHAMED Premier League footballer Adam Johnson is engaged and planning his wedding seven years after his release from prison.
The former England and Manchester City ace, 39, served half of his six- year sentence behind bars for grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.
Now he has proposed to long-time girlfriend Stacey Flounders – who initially split with the player at the time of the court case – and the couple are counting down to tying the knot and moving on from his troubled past for good.
An insider told The Sun: “Stacey and her inner circle have put Adam’s time behind bars well behind them and are really excited for the next chapter of their lives. Their family and friends are over the moon for them and wedding planning is in full swing.
“They’ve been through a lot as a family and this feels like the perfect way to leave the memory of the hard times in the past and focus on a happy future with their two kids.”
The Sun has contacted a representative for Johnson for comment.
Stacey, 36, was pregnant with the couple’s daughter Ayla in 2014 when Johnson began communicating with the teen girl, who a judge said “suffered severe psychological harm” as a result of her dealings with the sportsman.
The couple split prior to Johnson’s trial when he admitted to cheating with at least 12 women. Stacey said in her court testimony: “We’re just going to remain friends.”
Even though Johnson was convicted of sexual activity with a child and pleaded guilty to one count of grooming, Stacey told The Sun she never thought he was a paedophile but rather had a sex addiction.
During the trial, it emerged Johnson and the girl, who was a huge fan of his club Sunderland, had swapped 834 WhatsApp messages. Within an hour of their first messages, the girl had told him she was in Year 10 at school.
Details of their meet-ups and sexual activity in his £80,000 Range Rover were also heard.
Johnson expressed remorse for his crimes upon his release from jail, writing in a statement: “I am very sorry for the effect my conduct had on those directly and indirectly involved. It should never have happened and I deeply regret what I did.
“I now want to concentrate on the future and want to demonstrate through my actions that I am committed to repaying them for their support.”
Despite claiming she would never take him back nor trust him again, Stacey and Johnson reunited romantically in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and the following year welcomed their second child, Arley.
An insider said: “She never hated him. He insists he has learned the error of his ways and has promised he will never cheat again. She thinks he is a brilliant dad.”
Johnson, who once earned £80,000-a-week, has not worked since his football career came to an end but is said to be set for life due to the fortune he amassed prior to being jailed.
In 2022, the family downsized from their £1.75 million five-bedroom mansion in County Durham and bought a £470,000 property close-by.
Last year entrepreneur Flounders closed her events business after five-and-a-half years of trading.
Two years prior to that she closed the Hartlepool bakery Mrs C’s Patisserie which she co-owned and stated that rising inflation costs had “crippled” the business.