Footballers’ wives face off over leaked story

LONDON: Footballers’ wives Coleen Rooney (pictured) and Rebekah Vardy faced each other in the High Court yesterday at the opening of their “Wagatha Christie” libel trial over a social media post.

The online spat between the wives of former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney and Leicester City player Jamie Vardy has escalated into a High Court battle.

The case centres on Twitter and

Instagram posts from October 2019 where Rooney alleged that someone she trusted had leaked stories to

The Sun tabloid. She said that she blocked followers of her Instagram Stories except for Vardy’s account and posted fake stories that she said made their way into the tabloid. She alleged that “just one person” viewed the stories, adding: “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account”.

The post went viral, Vardy’s lawyer said, and his client had faced horrific online abuse and had no choice but to bring the libel action.

David Sherborne, the lawyer for Rooney, said the case would centre on whether Vardy knew that her PR agent was leaking stories.