I felt people I’d let into my circle were going against me
Coleen on tracing leaked stories
COLEEN Rooney told her libel trial she felt betrayed by close friends as she traced the source of articles that were leaked to the press.
She also slammed “evil” messages between Rebekah Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt in the High Court battle.
In an explosive online post in 2019, Mrs Rooney revealed she had carried out a sting operation and accused Mrs Vardy of being behind the “false stories”.
The mum-of-four said a lot of people had contacted her after the message while a barrister added she had been dubbed “Wagatha Christie”.
Mrs Rooney, 36, replied: “Yeah, which I just think is ridiculous. I got a lot of people sending me pictures, screen shots and obviously people didn’t realise how serious what was behind it was.
“I felt it was hard and people I trusted and people I had let into my circle were going against me.”
She added: “I have never spoken about this until this case, so I haven’t dwelt on it. To be honest with you I have hated every minute of it.”
Mrs Vardy, 40, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie, is suing Mrs Rooney for libel.
The case previously heard Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt sent Whatsapp posts about Mrs Rooney’s personal life and
she was allegedly called a “nasty b***h”. Finishing her evidence yesterday, Mrs Rooney said: “The messages that went on between them were just evil and uncalled for. There’s no need for it, I’ve never done anything to them.”
She was quizzed by barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC about the aftermath of her “reveal” post and his client Mrs Vardy’s response.
He said: “She makes it clear to you that it wasn’t her, doesn’t she?”
Mrs Rooney, wife of England legend Wayne, replied: “She says she has zero interest in what’s going on in my life, which I believe is totally untrue.
“She talks about me a lot... so that was a lie.” Later asked about the abuse Mrs Vardy received on social media after the claims, Mrs Rooney said: “I know and it is disgusting. I would never ever wish that upon anyone.
“I was getting trolled as well but obviously Mrs Vardy’s was disgusting.”
Mrs Rooney told the court she did not say anything further about her investigation due to a legal letter she received from Mrs Vardy’s lawyers.
She said: “I was quite threatened by it. I held off and tried to take direction from what the solicitors advised me.”
Mrs Rooney told the trial she “had suspicions” Mrs Vardy’s Instagram account was responsible for leaking information to journalists when she unfollowed her on the social media site.
She said the pair were “not good friends” and if someone had unfollowed her she would “probably forget about it and not message” them.
Mrs Rooney added: “I felt it was suspicious. I had suspicions in other ways, so this just added to the suspicions I had.”
Harpreet Robertson, a former ticketing manager and family liaison officer for the FA, was quizzed about seating arrangements at a Euro 2016 match attended by both women.
She said she believed mum-of-five Mrs Vardy made a “choice” to sit in seats behind Mrs Rooney, alleging Mrs Vardy’s evidence over this was “simply untrue”.
In her witness statement, Mrs Vardy said: “We went to a game one day and Coleen and her family were sitting in our seats. Rather than make a fuss we sat in the nearest seats available.” Asked how she knew Mrs Vardy had chosen to sit behind Mrs Rooney, Ms Robertson responded: “I believe that other seats were available so therefore I deduced it was a choice.”
But she added: “I don’t know if it’s deliberate.”
Ms Robertson said two people were “rude and abusive” to her when asked to move from seats reserved for her and FA staff at the match.
She told the court they were allegedly Mrs Vardy’s “guests”.
Ms Robertson said: “She was looking round and listening to the altercation between me and her guests.”
Mr Rooney is to give evidence today.