Rebekah accused of leaking stories about celebrities and footballers
But she tells court... ‘I was only joking’
trying to gain publicity during the tournament by deliberately taking someone else’s seat behind Coleen and writing about her for The Sun. Rebekah had been signed up by the paper to write a column during the tournament.
Mr Sherborne referred to her column on June 19, 2016, where Rebekah said she spoke to Coleen at the England football match in France.
Questioning her over the seating row, the lawyer said: “The reason you decided to put into your diary piece that you were sitting behind Coleen Rooney is because that boosts your public profile.”
‘That’s ridiculous,” Rebekah replied. He later said: ‘What you don’t say, Mrs Vardy, is the reason you were sitting behind Mrs Rooney is that you deliberately went and sat behind them even though they weren’t your seats.”
Rebekah responded: “I think that’s nonsense, absolute nonsense.”
The case stems from a viral social media post in October 2019, when Coleen, who is married to Derby County manager Wayne, 36, said she had carried out a “sting operation”.
She accused Rebekah of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press. Yesterday Wayne accompanied his wife and carried one of her bags, which was filled with files. The mum of four, who wore and black-and-white dress, suffered a foot injury recently and is in a medical boot. She is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
She and Wayne are expected to give evidence in the coming days.
The court previously heard that both Coleen and Rebekah have spent “hundreds of thousands of pounds” on the case so far, with the total costs expected to be at least £2million.
The fake stories Coleen planted on her Instagram to try and find out if her followers were leaking information included her travelling to Mexico for a “gender selection” procedure for a baby, a plan to return to a TV career, and the basement flooding at home.
In a public post shared on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, she wrote: “I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
“It’s... Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
The hearing continues.