Coleen reveals her secret split over Rooney’s ‘wrongdoing’ after nightclub
COLEEN Rooney split from husband Wayne after he was caught drink-driving with another woman in the car, she revealed at the Wagatha Christie libel trial yesterday.
Mrs Rooney, 36, who rarely speaks about her marriage, admitted she feared the relationship might be over when the former England captain was stopped by police after leaving a nightclub with Laura Simpson.
Mother-of-four Mrs Rooney said she launched her so-called Wagatha Christie sting operation because she felt betrayed that someone had leaked information to The Sun during their marriage crisis.
Mrs Rooney told London’s high court yesterday: ‘I was in a vulnera ble situation. There had been some wrongdoing by my husband.
‘I was spending a lot of time at my parents’ house. I didn’t know how my marriage was going to work out. Me and Wayne were trying to figure out our relationship and where we were going.
‘But I didn’t want people to know that... I hadn’t settled on “This is it, we are getting back together”.’
Wayne Rooney was driving office worker Ms Simpson’s car when he was arrested for drink-driving in Cheshire in 2017.
In an interview on This Morning Ms Simpson, then 29, said the pair had enjoyed ‘a kiss, a hug’, and that Mrs Rooney had then called her to demand to know what happened. Mrs Rooney, who met her future husband when they were both 12, said she had taken it as a personal betrayal when details of a picture from her private Instagram account were leaked to The Sun.
It showed Rooney in bed with his children at the family home, all wearing matching pyjamas, and was seized upon as a sign the Rooneys had healed their relationship.
Mrs Rooney was dubbed Wagatha Christie after she planted fake stories on her private Instagram, some of which then appeared in The Sun.
She then tweeted that she had blocked all her followers except the person who had allegedly betrayed her, saying: ‘It’s... Rebekah Vardy’s account.’ Mrs Rooney defended her decision to name Mrs Vardy, who claims the 2019 tweet exposed her to a torrent of abuse and death threats online.
Mrs Rooney told the court: ‘Making the post was not something that I did lightly, nor without my own evidence and good reason.
‘I am not a malicious or nasty person by any means. I genuinely did not anticipate my post getting the level of attention that it has.’
She added: ‘I certainly did not expect or want anyone to send her the abusive and threatening messages that I have seen were sent following the post. That is completely unacceptable for her and her family and I would never wish that on her.’
Mrs Rooney said she had been ‘mortified’ by the leaks from her Instagram account. She told how she had deliberated over who could be responsible, and had ultimately suspected Mrs Vardy because of the other woman’s desire for fame.
She told the court she would not have classed Mrs Vardy as a friend, as they only knew each other through their husbands’ football careers.
Mrs Rooney said she had given several warnings that she would not tolerate the leaks, and said her public tweet naming Mrs Vardy’s Instagram account was her ‘last resort’.
Mrs Vardy is suing Mrs Rooney for libel in a case tipped to cost the two women up to £3million in legal fees.
Mrs Rooney denies libel on the basis her allegation was ‘substantially true’. She was crossexamined by Mrs Vardy’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson, who apologised for using ‘Wag’ in his questioning.
The trial continues, with Rooney expected to be called as a witness next week.
‘Trying to figure out our relationship’