Coleen Rooney turns super sleuth: ‘…it’s Rebekah Vardy’s account’
Rooney turns sleuth as she alleges wife of England footballer Vardy is source of stories leaked to tabloid
IT IS a whodunnit that has already been labelled “Wagatha Christie”.
Coleen Rooney, the wife of former England footballer Wayne and no shrinking violet when it comes to publicity, was perplexed as to how stories about her family were appearing in the tabloid press.
So to catch the mystery mole, she set a trap. And after a five-month investigation, Mrs Rooney has caught who she says is the culprit: a social media account belonging to Rebekah Vardy, wife of the Leicester City and former England player Jamie.
Both Mrs Vardy and Mrs Rooney are so-called WAGS – the ‘wives and girlfriends’ of famous footballers.
Yesterday, Mrs Rooney announced the findings of her sting, prompting a huge reaction. Netflix promised to make a documentary about the saga, while Conservative MPS praised her ability to flush out the source of leaks.
Last night, Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, said: “There has been a massive fallout between some very influential people figures in our country that has divided the nation.
“There has been finger-pointing, there has been blame-shifting and … denials. But enough about Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy.”
The stories at the centre of the mystery included revelations of family secrets such as Mrs Rooney’s trip to Mexico to “make a baby girl”, her plans to resurrect her television career on Strictly Come Dancing, and even a flood in the basement of their mansion.
In a surprise post, Mrs Rooney told her 1.2million social media followers that she had invented the tales in an attempt to work out who was sharing stories from her private Instagram account. She said she “came up with an idea” and had blocked everyone apart from an Instagram page purportedly belonging to Mrs Vardy from seeing her posts.
“Over the past five months I have posted a series of false stories to see if they made their way into The Sun newspaper,” the 33-year-old added. “And, you know what, they did! The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV, and then the latest story about the basement flooding in my new house.
“Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from. I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
“It’s … Rebekah Vardy’s account.” Each of the stories apparently invented by Mrs Rooney was indeed published by The Sun newspaper. All have been swiftly deleted.
Mrs Vardy then wrote back to Mrs Rooney, claiming that “various people have had access” to her account, adding: “I’m not being funny but I don’t need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you?”
Mrs Vardy, who is on holiday in Dubai and pregnant with her fifth child, said she was “so upset” about the accusation, adding: “I’m disgusted that I’m even having to deny this.
“You should have called me the first time this happened.”
A source close to Mrs Vardy last night said she had instructed lawyers to “forensically examine” her Instagram account to find out who accessed it in recent months.
The Sun refused to reveal yesterday whether it had paid money for the fake stories about the Rooneys.
Mrs Vardy, 37, has been interviewed a number of times by the newspaper in recent months, where she “opened up” about violent relationships and alleged abuse she suffered as a child.
Mrs Rooney’s detective work was discussed online by celebrities and politicians. Lord Barwell, the former chief of staff to Theresa May, said the episode was a “sadly all too rare moment when you can identify a leaker”. Greg Hands, the Tory MP, jokingly invited her to become a Conservative whip.
During the Euro 2016 tournament it was reported that Mr Rooney had “warned” Mr Vardy about his wife’s social media posts. Roy Hodgson, the then England manager, denied the story during a press conference. There were also rumours – denied by Mrs Vardy – that she had fallen out with Mrs Rooney over the use of VIP seats.
A statement from The Sun said: “Each of the stories provided to The Sun was put to Coleen’s representatives before publication, and on each occasion they declined to comment.”
‘I have saved… all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them’