Celebrities
Sinead Butler
Aug 17, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
It was one of the biggest stories in recent years, and there was even a TV drama and a play about it all - but now Coleen Rooney has broken her silence on the Wagatha Christie case for the first time.
In a tell-all interview with Vogue Magazine, the 37-year-old WAG - who is married to former Manchester United and England player Wayne Rooney - revealed what went through her mind before sharing the infamous tweet in 2019 and the following court battle.
The tweet detailed the detective work she had undertaken to figure out who was leaking stories about her to The Sun newspaper.
She did this by posting three fake stories and narrowed it down which of her followers could view them to see whether they would still get leaked.
To conclude, Rooney then alleged where the source came from, with the iconic line "It's ……….Rebekah Vardy’s account."
(Left) Coleen Rooney, wife of former England footballer Wayne Rooney, (right) Rebekah Vardy, wife of England and Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, attending the High Court during the "Wagatha Christie" libel trial in May 2022.Photo by NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images and Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
Rooney's sleuthing led the internet to compare her to crime novelist Agatha Christie, which led to the term "Wagatha Christie" being coined.
Rebekah Vardy - who is married to Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy - then brought a libel case against Rooney but after a week-long trial at London's High Court in May last year, the verdict was announced in July that Vardy had lost the case.
As a result, Vardy was ordered to pay up to £1.5m to Rooney in legal fees.
Here are the 10 best Coleen quotes from the interview:
“What I said in that post, I still stick by today.”
- on what she wrote in the infamous post that kicked off the Wagatha Christie saga.
“We would associate because our husbands had played for England together. But she doesn’t live round here. She wasn’t a friend. I’ve never socialised with her.”
- on her relationship with Rebekah Vardy before the revelation and court case.
"I’ve never been in a legal case before so for me it was scary." “The thing I was dreading the most was actually going to court.”
- on going to court over her Twitter post.
“It was so difficult in that courtroom," Coleen said and added: “especially watching her on the stand. It was quite painful. I felt uneasy.”
- on being in court and watching Rebekah Vardy testify.
“I’d rather spend money on a holiday wardrobe than a court wardrobe."
- on her court fashion.
“They were just another level. When I was reading them I was thinking: the evilness and the hatred that they had for someone that they don’t even know.”
- on Vardy's texts about mentioning Rooney's late sister Rosie for Rooney to find endearing.
“'When PE teachers have to teach a bit of geography.' We were laughing about that one."
- on the internet meme that came from Wayne carrying Coleen's black Fendi tote filled with folders into court.
"I swore,” she says with a laugh. “I think all I did was swear for the whole quarter- of-an-hour phone call.”
- on her reaction to finding out she won the court case.
“I’m a forgive and forget person, I can’t be bothered with things going on and on."However, she added: "But this is obviously totally different."
- on whether she forgives Rebekah Vardy.
“I can’t live in the past. It’s happened now and I move on.”
- on whether she has any regrets about tweeting out about her detective work.
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