Vardy: I was framed
Unrepentant Rebekah STILL claims innocence in new documentary – months after losing Wagatha trial
REBEKAH Vardy has sensationally claimed she was ‘ framed’ during the Wagatha Christie affair, months after losing the highprofile court battle.
Mrs Vardy took Coleen Rooney to court for libel – and lost – after Mrs Rooney claimed in October 2019 that Mrs Vardy’s social media account was leaking stories about her to the Press.
In an interview for a new documentary, which will examine both sides of the bitter court clash, she says: ‘I wonder, how easy would it be to potentially set someone up in a way that makes it look like that is the only person that has seen those [leaked Instagram] posts?’
She added: ‘I just find it absolutely incredible to this day that she said no one else knew about this.’
During the High Court trial, Mrs Justice Steyn said in her judgment in July that it was ‘likely’ that Mrs Vardy’s agent Caroline Watt ‘undertook the direct act’ of passing on information to The Sun.
The judge said: ‘The evidence clearly shows in my view that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it.’
Mrs Vardy, 40, was ordered to pay up to £1.5million towards Mrs Rooney’s legal fees after losing the case.
But the wife of Leicester and England footballer Jamie continues to insist she was not the culprit. And in the new documentary series, Vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial, which will be streaming on Discovery+ from Saturday, Mrs Vardy also claims that a mole is still leaking Rooney stories to The Sun – which she also says proves her innocence.
‘The irony is that since I was removed as a follower, stories have been coming thick and fast about the Rooneys,’ she said.
A friend of Mrs Vardy said a story in The Sun earlier this year, suggesting that Wayne Rooney would have a ‘chaperone’ when he was away from Mrs Rooney, 36, working in the US, sparked Mrs Vardy’s suspicions.
Mother-of-five Mrs Vardy is on pugnacious form in the documentary, giving an interview dressed head-to-toe in black leather.
At one point she snaps: ‘I have zero tolerance for this bull****,’ and adds: ‘I just find the whole thing really ****ing bizarre.’
She was on holiday in Dubai with her husband when Mrs Rooney made the accusations on Twitter and Instagram about the leaks. Mrs Vardy said: ‘At the time I felt physically sick. I think it must have been the biggest panic attack. I was totally shocked. What to do next? That’s the million-dollar question.
‘I couldn’t understand why someone would do that. Why someone would do that knowing someone’s vulnerable, knowing the impact something like that is going to cause. It’s going to cause a s*** storm – a massive one – and that it did.’
She said being in court was a ‘surreal’ experience. And, referring to a fake story about a flooded basement in Mrs Rooney’s new Cheshire mansion – which Mrs Rooney posted herself and used to link the leaks to Mrs Vardy’s account – she said: ‘The first time I read about the flooded basement was in the Daily Mail online. I love how I get blamed for that one, incredible.
‘If I had been selling stories, where are the messages saying, “Give this to The Sun”? “Make sure I get paid for this”. Where are they? There aren’t any – because they don’t exist.’
Mrs Vardy said Mrs Rooney’s legal team must have been ‘desperate’ to bring up her kiss-and-tell story about Peter Andre.
She also repeats the claim that she does not recall seeing a text message from Mrs Watt in which the agent, discussing selling stories about Mrs Rooney, said: ‘It was me.’
The High Court imposed a punitive charge over legal costs, with Mrs Vardy told to pay 90 per cent of Mrs Rooney’s costs.
This was in part because crucial evidence had been destroyed after Mrs Watt accidentally dropped her phone in the North Sea.
The documentary features a text exchange between Mrs Vardy and Mrs Rooney which
‘How easy would it be to set someone up?’
took place in the minutes after Mrs Rooney made her first accusation against Mrs Vardy online. Mrs Vardy asks: ‘Wtf is this?’ and Mrs Rooney says: ‘You know what it is.’ Mrs Vardy then says: ‘I have NEVER ever given anything to anyone on you’, to which Mrs Rooney responds: ‘It’s your Instagram.’ Mrs Vardy says: ‘I’m so disappointed you think I would do that. I’m seven months pregnant and you try and cause s*** for me.’
A friend of Mrs Rooney said yesterday: ‘The court ruling was absolutely clear about the facts of this case and also about the nature of the evidence Mrs Vardy gave.’