Coleen Rooney has revealed she ‘felt for’ Rebekah Vardy during their bitter Wagatha Christie court case.
Even though she was being sued by Rebekah for libel, Coleen confessed that she struggled watching her WAG rival break down in the courtroom.
Recalling the incident in her Disney+ documentary, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, the 37-year-old TV personality confessed: ‘It was painful watching it.
‘In a weird way I felt for her because she chose to go to court and put herself in that situation. It wasn’t nice.’
During the trial Rebekah, 41, burst into tears during a cross examination by Coleen’s barrister David Sherborne who asked her ‘Is that your best point Mrs Vardy?’ after she pointed out that he had accidentally called her Coleen.
Mixed emotions: Coleen Rooney has revealed she ‘felt for’ Rebekah Vardy during their bitter Wagatha Christie court case (pictured during the Wagatha Christie trial)
Distressed: The Wagatha Christie trial was halted when Rebekah broke down in tears giving evidence on several occasions (stock image)
After she began crying, her barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC rose to his feet to intervene, saying Sherborne was ‘constantly commenting and making remarks to the witness’.
It led to the judge saying: ‘It is unnecessary and there’s not really enough time for those comments in any event.’
Moments later the judge asked if Rebekah would like to take a break as she appeared distressed. She adjourned the hearing for 10 minutes to allow Rebekah to compose herself.
In a second incident – less than half an hour later – Rebekah became emotional after she was questioned over a fake story posted by Coleen about a flood at her £20million Cheshire home, which has been likened to a Morrisons supermarket.
Rebekah had told the court she had not seen Coleen’s Instagram post, only for Sherborne to remind her of a statement made two years ago when she admitted she had seen it.
Becoming visibly upset, Rebekah’s voice broke up as she said: ‘There was a lot of abuse at the time.’
Sherborne told the court Coleen had restricted access to her followers as part of a ‘social media sting’, which revealed that Rebekah’s account was the only one which had been sent the fake post.
Rebekah also began crying after Sherborne asked her about sick comments Twitter trolls had made about her young daughter.
Feud: Coleen and Rebekah first met at the England v Wales, UEFA Euro 2016 match (pictures) as their husbands Wayne and Jamie were playing
Elsewhere in the docuseries, Coleen revealed it was after husband Wayne Rooney’s drink driving arrest that Rebekah started leaking stories about her to The Sun newspaper.
Coleen was forced to reevaluate the couple’s marriage in September 2017 when the former England captain was stopped by police after leaving a nightclub with Laura Simpson.
Wagatha Christie timeline: How Coleen and Rebekah’s war unfolded
September 2017 to October 2019 – The Sun runs a number of articles about Coleen, including that she travelled to Mexico to look into baby ‘gender selection’ treatment, her plan to revive her TV career and the flooding of her basement.
October 9, 2019 – Coleen uses social media to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her private Instagram account to the tabloids.
Coleen says she spent five months attempting to work out who was sharing information about her and her family based on posts she had made on her personal social media page.
After sharing a series of ‘false’ stories and using a process of elimination, Coleen claims they were viewed by one Instagram account, belonging to Rebekah.
Rebekah, then pregnant with her fifth child, denies the allegations and says various people had access to her Instagram over the years.
She claims to be ‘so upset’ by Coleen’s accusation, later adding: ‘I thought she was my friend but she completely annihilated me.’
The public dispute makes headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending.
How it all began: On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy, 40, of leaking ‘false stories’ about her to the press in an Instagram post (above)
February 13, 2020 – In a tearful appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Rebekah says the stress of the dispute caused her to have severe anxiety attacks and she ‘ended up in hospital three times’. Coleen says in a statement that she does not want to ‘engage in further public debate’.
Shortly after Coleen’s public accusation, Rebekah – who was pregnant and on holiday in Dubai at the time – denied any involvement (above)
June 23, 2020 – It emerges that Rebekah has launched libel proceedings against Coleen.
Rebekah’s lawyers allege she ‘suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed’.
November 19-20, 2020 – The libel battle has its first High Court hearing in London. A judge rules that Coleen’s October 2019 post ‘clearly identified’ Rebekah as being ‘guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust’.
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the ‘natural and ordinary’ meaning of the posts was that Rebekah had ‘regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Coleen’s private posts and stories’.
February 8-9, 2022 – A series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt – which Coleen’s lawyers allege were about her – are revealed at a preliminary court hearing.
The court is told Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a ‘nasty bitch’ in one exchange with Ms Watt.
Coleen’s lawyers seek further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it.
February 14 – Coleen is refused permission to bring a High Court claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information to be heard alongside the libel battle. A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Steyn, says the bid was brought too late and previous opportunities to make the claim had not been taken.
April 13 – Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial, the High Court is told as the case returns for another hearing.
The agent revokes permission for her witness statement to be used, and withdraws her waiver which would have allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
April 29 – Rebekah ‘appears to accept’ that her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories, Coleen’s barrister David Sherborne tells the High Court. He argues that a new witness statement submitted by Rebekah suggests Ms Watt was the source but Rebekah claims she ‘did not authorise or condone her’.
Rebekah’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson says the statement did not contain ‘any change whatever in the pleaded case’, with her legal team having no communication with Ms Watt.
Wayne plead guilty to drink driving and was fined £170 by the court and banned from driving for two years.
He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work as part of a twelve-month community order.
His football club Everton fined him two weeks’ wages, which was in the region of £300,000.
Coleen, admitted her head was ‘all over the place’ after the arrest and while she was staying with her parents, she took to her private Instagram account – only followed by friends and loved ones – to share a picture with her sons that she captioned: ‘no matter where I am they always follow me, and I hope that lasts forever’.
After the post she was inundated with supportive messages from friends, with Rebekah also reaching out and offering up her annex for Coleen and the kids to stay in, prompting Coleen to share that she was camped out at her mother’s.
Coleen recalled: ‘I thought she was just being caring and sympathising because she’s been in the public eye as well.’
Worried that people would start ‘feeling sorry’ for her, Coleen decided to delete the post from her page, explaining: ‘I wasn’t in the state of mind for answering people and I just thought, take it down, delete it. I forgot about it and didn’t think anything else of it.’
However, the next day Coleen spotted a story in The Sun newspaper revealing she had left the marital home to stay at her mother’s.
She instantly realised that it contained information about her private Instagram post but explained she had ‘too many things going on’ to address the matter and decided to not take any action.
The TV personality then headed off to Barbados to clear her head on a family holiday with her sons, with Coleen recalling: ‘They were young and didn’t understand what was going on. Wayne was back home, we were still talking things through.
‘But he’s a good dad and while we were away it was Wayne’s birthday. So I put an Instagram post on my personal account wishing him happy birthday from the boys.’
To Coleen’s dismay the private post ended up in The Sun newspaper again, and she confessed: ‘I was upset. I was fuming someone was passing on my private Instagram. It was the second time it had happened now so it made me think, is that the same person?
‘I was just trying to figure out why is someone doing this to me? It could be for money, it could be for press attention. I did go through and look at people but it was so hard to think who it could be.’
Struggling to narrow down the culprit, Coleen issued a warning, posting on her Stories: ‘Who’s my snitch of a follower? This is a private account.’
The warning didn’t work, however, and just a few weeks later there was another leak to The Sun after Coleen posted a snap back in her marital home with the children as they celebrated Halloween with Wayne.
The leak came at a stressful time for Coleen who admitted she ‘still wasn’t in a good place’ with Wayne but had returned to their marital home for the sake of their children.
Looking back, Wayne confessed: ‘It was a relief to finally see her back home. I want to spend the whole of my life with Coleen, to put myself in a position where I could almost throw that away is just so silly and stupid of me. It’s not what I want at all.’
Yet while she struggled to repair her marriage, Coleen was also consumed with thoughts on which one of her followers was sharing her content.
At this point Coleen realised the pattern of stories appearing in The Sun and given the newspaper’s history with the people of Liverpool, she discounted any of her Scouse friends and families being the leak.
Still faced with too many suspects, however, Coleen put up another warning post, calling out ‘the GRASS’, as she admitted: ‘I felt betrayed because it’s sly.
‘The way I was brought up and the community I lived in you don’t stab someone in the back, you don’t do that, you don’t betray people.’
Having spotted the post, Rebekah was quick to message Coleen and questioned if The Sun could have hacked her account directly, a move that left Coleen feeling ‘paranoid.’
Having confided in Wayne that a post had been leaked, he shared his advice, admitting: ‘I said to Coleen “just delete it”. Social media is not something you need.
‘She said no and that’s the way she is, quite stubborn, and that’s what I like about her she’s got her own mind and does things in her own way.’
The following summer, Wayne was offered the chance to play in the States for D.C United and so the Rooneys opted to relocate for a ‘fresh start’.
Coleen admitted she wasn’t thrilled about going, explaining: ‘It was a massive decision, especially with four children. My main thought was we need to be together as a family and if Wayne wanted to go then we needed to be there.’
Her friend admitted that when she asked Coleen if she wanted to make the move, the WAG had responded: ‘I don’t think we’ve got a choice.
‘Our marriage is still quite vulnerable, it’s still a little bit uncertain. That decision was based on if we want to save this marriage we need to go as a family.’
Once living in the States, Coleen struggled with feelings of loneliness and being homesick.
Realising that his wife was struggling with the move, Wayne called his agent and told him they needed to return to the U.K.
With two years left on his contract with D.C. United, Wayne then inked a deal to return to England as a player-coach with EFL Championship side Derby County.
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story is available to stream on Disney+
The 10 most shocking moments during the Wagatha Christie trial
Rebekah gets ‘honest’ in the witness box
There were several tense exchanges between Rebekah and Coleen’s lawyer David Sherborne, who had accused the WAG of having ‘selective amnesia’.
He also accused the WAG of being dishonest under oath, announcing: ‘You’re making this up, aren’t you Mrs Vardy?’ The reason you can’t get your story straight is because you’re lying.’
Yet amid the tense atmosphere there was one moment that elicited several chuckles as Rebekah started an answer during cross-examination by saying: ‘If I’m honest…’
Sherborne was quick to jump in and say, ‘Well I’d much rather you’re honest because you’re standing in the witness box,’ prompting several giggles from the crowds.
Peter Andre’s ‘chipolata’
Undoubtedly one of the most talked about moments in the case was the unexpected courtroom chatter about the size of Peter Andre’s genitalia – which had been compared to a ‘chipolata’.
Peter, 49, was dragged into the case when Coleen’s lawyer Sherborne, read out excerpts of Rebekah’s 2004 News of the World article about him to demonstrate that she has form for giving stories to the media.
Following an alleged one night stand in 2001, Rebekah sold her story to the tabloid, in which she was quoted saying: ‘When he pulled down his trousers I couldn’t believe it. It was like a miniature chipolata.’
When confronted about her crass comments in court, Rebekah claimed that she had been ‘misrepresented’ in the story and said she had been coerced to do the interview by an abusive ex-partner when she was just 22.
Peter – who is married to Emily MacDonagh, a doctor 17 years his junior, with whom he has daughter Amelia, eight, and son Theo, five – has since insisted that he feels no ‘bitterness’ towards Rebekah but had to apologise to his family after the unflattering comments were repeated in court. Peter also has son Junior, 17, and daughter Princess, 15, with ex-wife Katie Price.
Gossip: Undoubtedly one of the most talked about moments in the case was the unexpected courtroom chatter about the size of Peter Andre’s genitalia – which had been compared to a ‘chipolata’
Coleen is compared to a pigeon
One of the most notable quotes from the trial were Rebekah’s comments that arguing with Coleen was ‘as pointless as arguing with a pigeon’.
Coleen was seen in the courtroom looking on intently as the court heard a quote that Rebekah gave to the Daily Mail, shortly after the original leaking accusation was made.
In the interview she exclaimed: Arguing with Coleen is like arguing with a pigeon. You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong but it’s still going to s**t in your hair.’
Reflecting on her remarks, Rebekah showed remorse on her choice of words, declaring: ‘Rightly or wrongly, maybe that interview shouldn’t have been done. I don’t know… I wasn’t thinking straight the day after this had happened.’
Rebekah’s 2018 bust-up with the late Sarah Harding
Many were shocked to learn that Rebekah had once got into a heated argument with singer Sarah Harding at the 2018 National Television Awards after the Girls Aloud singer spotted her rifling through her handbag.
In her written statement, Coleen said that she was ‘aware’ that Rebekah had ‘provided various pieces of ‘behind the scenes’ footage for The Sun’.
Coleen claimed: ‘She also got in a spat with former Girls Aloud group member Sarah Harding during the 2018 event because Sarah apparently caught Becky taking photographs of the contents of Sarah’s handbag when Sarah had dropped it on the floor. Their dispute subsequently appeared in The Sun.’
According to an article published at the time in The Mirror, Sarah accused Rebekah of taking ‘sneaky pictures’ of her, sparking a ‘heated’ row between the pair that caused a ‘huge scene’.
Sources claimed that Sarah had dropped her bag inside the bash, and as she proceeded to pick up her belongings from the floor, she saw a camera flash and I’m A Celebrity star Rebekah standing nearby with her phone in her hand.
It is said the singer saw red and accused mother-of-five Rebekah of taking sly pictures of her, with Rebekah insisting that hadn’t been the case, offering to show Sarah her phone, before demanding an apology from the Celebrity Big Brother star.
Sarah did not discuss the incident publicly at the time, and tragically passed away in September 2021 at the age of 39 after battling breast cancer.
Shocking: Sarah Harding (left) is said to have got into an argument with Rebekah (right) at the 2018 National Television Awards (red carpet pictured) after spotting her taking photos inside her handbag
Crucial evidence ends up ‘in the sea’
A preliminary court hearing in February revealed a series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt – which Coleen’s lawyers alleged were about her.
The court was told Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a ‘nasty b***h’ in one exchange with Caroline.
However, when Coleen’s lawyers sought further information from the WhatsApp messages, the court was told that Caroline’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it.
Rebekah’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC said ‘we have no way of knowing’ if this was done to destroy evidence or an accident, adding ‘Mrs Vardy doesn’t know… and this can’t be used against her.’
He later went on to state Rebekah ‘has no knowledge’ of an incident that saw her agent’s phone fall into the North Sea and ‘doesn’t know’ if she was a leaker.
The mystery surrounding Davy Jones
As Rebekah was grilled about the phone in question, the WAG asked the High Court ‘who’s Davy Jones?’ following a nautical reference by Coleen’s barrister.
The High Court burst into laughter after the exchange – which concerned the claim that Rebekah’s agent lost her phone containing WhatsApp messages when it fell off a boat into the North Sea.
‘We know that Ms Watt’s phone is now in Davy Jones’ Locker, don’t we, Mrs Vardy?’ Coleen’s barrister said. Rebekah then replied: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know who Davy Jones is’.
The judge then had to describe the idiom, which refers to the legendary resting place of sailors who have drowned at sea.
The idiom inspired a fictional character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series who served as the tyrannical captain of ghost ship the Flying Dutchman.
The fictional Davy Jones should not be considered with Monkees singer David Thomas Jones, who also adopted the name.
Looks familiar: Rebekah asked the High Court ‘who’s Davy Jones?’ following a nautical reference by Coleen’s barrister as the £3million Wagatha Christie libel trial continued for a third rollercoaster day
The silence of the lads
Rebekah was accused of trying to ‘do the dirty’ and spill the beans on unrest in the Leicester City dressing room when star player Riyad Mahrez went ‘on strike’, the High Court heard.
The court heard Rebekah contacted her publicist after Mahrez failed to turn up for training for the second day running. At the time of the exchange in February 2018, Mahrez was seeking a move to Manchester City.
In the WhatsApp message, Rebekah wrote: ‘Mahrez not turned up for training again. The lads are fuming.’
As her agent suggested she contact TV reporter Rob Dorsett who was one of the journalists covering the story for Sky Sports News, Rebekah replied that she didn’t want the story to ‘come back on me.’
Under cross examination from Coleen’s barrister, Rebekah said she did not know whether or not her husband’s then teammates were ‘fuming’ about Mahrez not turning up for training.
‘It was probably something I was plucking from thin air. It was just a gossip that was all… Jamie and I never discussed whether ‘the lads were fuming’.’
Gemma Collins’ unexpected cameo
As the trial continued the High Court heard how Rebekah received a text from her agent, announcing ‘it was me’ after Coleen first publicly claimed that someone had been leaking stories from her private Instagram.
Rebekah agreed her agent ‘appeared to be the source’ of a news story on Coleen’s 2019 car crash that ended up in The Sun but was questioned by Coleen’s lawyer on why she did not challenge her.
She said it was because she had been ‘watching Dancing on Ice’ and was distracted by Gemma Collins’s infamous ‘faceplant’.
Rebekah was referring to the moment the celebrity tripped and fell face-first on the ice during one of the routines in the ITV show.
Gemma’s face plant has cemented itself as one of pop culture’s most iconic moments in recent years, with Gemma later admitting she thought her ‘life was over’ when she tripped onto the rink.
Down she goes: Rebekah agreed her agent ‘appeared to be the source’ of a news story on Coleen’s 2019 car crash but said she hadn’t challenged her because she was ‘watching Dancing on Ice’ and was distracted by Gemma Collins’s ‘faceplant’
It all ends in tears
During a gruelling cross-examination on the third day of the trial, Rebekah broke down twice – resulting in the trial being temporarily halted so she could compose herself.
The first time, Rebekah had corrected Coleen’s Sherborne lawyer after he confused her for Coleen, prompting him to reply, ‘Is that your best point Mrs Vardy?’.
After she began crying, her barrister Tomlinson QC rose to his feet to intervene, saying Sherborne was ‘constantly commenting and making remarks to the witness’.
It led to the judge saying: ‘It is unnecessary and there’s not really enough time for those comments in any event.’
Moments later the judge asked if Rebekah would like to take a break as she appeared distressed. She adjourned the hearing for 10 minutes to allow Rebekah to compose herself.
In the second incident – less than half an hour later – Rebekah became emotional after she was questioned over a fake story posted by Coleen about a flood at her £20million Cheshire home, which has been likened to a Morrisons supermarket.
Rebekah had told the court she had not seen Coleen’s Instagram post, only for Sherborne to remind her of a statement made two years ago when she admitted she had seen it.
Becoming visibly upset, Rebekah’s voice broke up as she said: ‘There was a lot of abuse at the time.’
It’s Jamie vs Wayne
Rebekah and Coleen’s husbands found themselves dragged into the Wagatha Christie trial, with ex-England captain Wayne testifying that team manager Roy Hodgson asked him to have an ‘awkward’ chat with Jamie to tell his wife Rebekah to ‘calm down’ during Euro 2016.
Wayne told the court during his evidence that Rebekah’s behaviour was a distraction for the England team and there were concerns that she was writing a diary column during the tournament.
But his ex-England teammate Jamie hit back after Wayne’s evidence by releasing a press release accusing Wayne of being confused and insisting that the players’ chat never happened.
Rebekah said in court that the conversation never took place, but her husband, Leicester City striker Jamie, 35, did not give evidence in the case. Instead, he sat at his wife’s side yesterday and stared daggers at Wayne.
After the mid-afternoon break, the Vardys left the court building early, shortly after Rebekah’s publicist issued a sensational statement from Jamie accusing Wayne of ‘talking nonsense’ and being ‘confused’
Tension: Rebekah and Coleen’s husbands found themselves dragged into the Wagatha Christie trial, with ex-England captain Wayne testifying he had an ‘awkward’ chat with Jamie to tell his wife Rebekah to ‘calm down’ during Euro 2016
