The truth behind Coleen and Becky’s secret messages
Experts reveal the tactics used by Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy to show they’re both confident they have the upper hand in their upcoming court battle
Their imminent High Court showdown hit a tense new low last week, with Rebekah Vardy reportedly pushing to get Coleen Rooney into court as soon as possible amid their ongoing WAG war.
The move came as her team insisted Coleen was “dragging her heels” by failing to file a defence to Rebekah’s claim that Coleen defamed her by publicly accusing her Instagram account of leaking stories, something Rebekah has always denied.
Despite their looming legal case – predicted to be one of the most bitter celebrity court battles ever – both Coleen, 34, and Rebekah, 38, defiantly shared carefree family portraits on Instagram last weekend.
Coleen posted a montage of cute snaps of her enjoying two family days out in Alton Towers theme park – one with her eldest son Kai, nine, and the other with her seven-year-old son
Klay. “Always a summer holiday favourite for my boys. We all had a great time,” Coleen – who is also mum to Kit, four, and
Cass, two, with husband Wayne Rooney, 34 – gushed.
Meanwhile, Rebekah shared a romantic image of herself and husband Jamie Vardy, 34, holding hands and walking away from the camera during a sunny getaway to Mykonos. She simply captioned it with a love heart emoji, while her hubby commented, “Love you”.
And celebrity body-language expert Judi James says she believes there’s a secret motive to the relaxed and cheery posts, with the two women sending hidden messages to each other.
“Becky and Coleen seem to be keen to present similar states, with both women appearing to want to show the kind of body language that suggests an almost carefree sense of confidence, emotional strength and invincibility,” Judi explains.
DISPLAY OF STRENGTH
“These images of perfect family life do look like deliberate messages to the other side. Neither woman could be relishing the thought of a court case, but both clearly want to be seen looking relaxed and happy – and therefore resilient.
“This behaviour would be similar to the displays seen prior to boxing bouts. Opponents
try to out-psyche each other in a display of strength, in a bid to either intimidate their opponent or to try to make them back down. Some of the smiles look rather rigid, but overall the message could be that they each expect to be the one having the positive outcome from the case.”
Rebekah’s calm and contented persona is a far cry from the start of the public feud last October, when she hit back at Coleen’s now-infamous Wagatha Christie post in an emotional Instagram message, saying, “I’m so upset that you have chosen to do this especially when I’m heavily pregnant.” And in February, Rebekah broke down on TV as she discussed the trolling she had endured after the fall out.
EMOTIONAL BATTLE
Coleen, however – who has 15 years more experience of life in the public eye and has been called “guarded and private” by fellow WAGs, including Annie Kilner and Lizzie Cundy – has displayed no such emotion.
Her public persona has seen her composed and in control – just two weeks after Rebekah made her accusation that Coleen had betrayed her, a few days after wagatha, he was in a nightclub in Washington and pictured with a waitress in a thong serving him cocktails. But shortly afterwards, Coleen was seen enjoying a night out in Manchester with fellow WAG Leanne Brown, apparently unfazed by the headlines.
And the pictures are likely fuelling a psychological fight between them, as sports psychologist Martin Perry – author of The Confidence Booster Workout and who has worked with Premier League footballers and Olympians – believes both Coleen and Rebekah may have picked up confidence tactics from their sporting husbands to get them through the trial.
Martin tells Closer, “To get through tough times, sport stars such as Jamie and Wayne are told to find internal resources for support. This could be why Becky’s putting more family photos up – she’s realised she gets her strength from them, and she feels more confident when surrounded by them.
“She doesn’t want to seem the weaker one in this public battle. She needs to draw on her family to give her strength in this mentally challenging feud. Coleen has been in the public eye longer – it could explain why her demeanour has never been anything other than calm.
“She’s far more experienced in putting on a brave face and not letting people know what she’s truly thinking or feeling. We’re all vulnerable at some point and it’s how we prevent those vulnerabilities from causing us to crumble that keeps the top people at the top.”
By Daisy McLure