Coleen Rooney admits Wagatha Christie trial nearly broke her marriage to Wayne because she was ‘hurt, short-tempered and he didn’t think she was the same person anymore’
Coleen Rooney has admitted the Wagatha Christie trial nearly broke her 15-year marriage to footballer Wayne because it ‘took its toll.’
In an interview with British Vogue, Coleen, 37, said she was ‘hurt, short-tempered and frustrated’ and Wayne ‘didn’t think she was the same person anymore.’
Rebekah had sued Coleen over an accusation she had leaked details of Coleen’s private life to the press after Coleen had staged an elaborate sting operation to find out who was passing on stories about her to The Sun.
And while Coleen won the £3million libel case, she admitted that things weren’t plain sailing at home and she felt like the stress of it was draining the life out of her.
She said of Wayne: ‘He was supportive, you know, but it took its toll. He kept saying all the way throughout it: “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine”.
Honest: Coleen Rooney told Vogue the Wagatha Christie trial nearly broke her marriage to Wayne because she was ‘hurt, short-tempered and he didn’t think she was the same anymore’
Real talk: Wayne accompanied Coleen to the trial – but she said: ‘It’s been a battle at times. I look at [any] situation we’re in and think, “Could we move forward from that? Is it worth moving forward from that?” I don’t just give up’
‘But there were certain moments where we did have disagreements. Not over the case, but he would get annoyed with me because I was quite short-tempered.
Sighing, she added: ‘You know. I didn’t have time for him. I lost focus.’
Coleen admitted that she was forced to spend hours on the phone with her legal team meaning her family had to step in to help with their four sons.
She said: ‘If you’re in a relationship, obviously that’s one of the main things. You’ve got to have time for each other.’
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The pair’s history of marital problems have been well-documented due to various scandals, sex workers and so on but she remains calm on the subject when pressed.
She said: ‘We’ve had our ups and downs. Obviously everybody knows. It’s been hard to go through it in the public eye but there has always been love there. If the love is gone then, you know, it’s pointless. But if not, you’ve got something to work for.’
‘It’s been a battle at times. I look at [any] situation we’re in and think, “Could we move forward from that? Is it worth moving forward from that?” I don’t just give up.’
‘There was a moment, in the autumn of 2021, when Wayne had said, “He felt like I wasn’t me anymore,”.
Happy families: Wayne and Coleen have four sons together: Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five
Childhood sweethearts: Coleen believes meeting Wayne so young has helped them to stand the test of time because they have ‘been through so much together’ – pictured in the south of France back in 2008
Coleen and Rebekah pictured together in 2016 – Rebekah sued Coleen over an accusation she had leaked details of Coleen’s private life to the press after Coleen had staged a sting operation to find out who was responsible – but Coleen won the case
The post that accused Rebekah Vardy’s social media account of leaking stories: It sparked a £3million legal battle that Mrs Rooney has won after the judge agreed it was ‘substantially true’ and therefore not libellous
Pictured: Rebekah sensationally lost the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case with Coleen in July 2022
She remembers sitting with her father outside the football one afternoon, crying and crying. ‘You look ill,’ he said to her and she wailed that she just wanted [the libel case] to be over. ‘So the relief. The relief was everything.’
Coleen said she gives this advice to her friends in similar positions.
She said: ‘Don’t give up straight away. You’ll get annoyed straight away, but I’ve always given myself time.
‘And there’s been times when it’s taken longer than others to work out what I want. There’s been doubts. “Is this going to work?” I’ve been full of frustration and hurt.
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‘But another thing is we’ve never backed away from it. We own it. I remember having a conversation about this with someone and I said: “Well, do you know what your wife gets up to every day and night? At least I know what my husband’s doing!”
‘It mightn’t be good,’ she says, laughing, ‘but I know. People lie to themselves.’
Coleen believes meeting Wayne so young has helped them to stand the test of time because they have ‘been through so much together.’
They met when they were just aged 12, but didn’t start dating until they were both aged 16. They are parents to sons Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five.
She acknowledged: ‘When people say, “Oh, she’s only in the public eye because of Wayne,” I’m like, “Yeah I am”.’
See the full feature in the September issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 22 August.
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.
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