Vardy in tears as she gives libel trial evidence

Rebekah Vardy was briefly moved to tears in the witness box during her second day of evidence at the High Court, in which she defended messages sent between her and her agent.

The mother of five faced around five hours of questioning yesterday, as the trial in the libel dispute between her and fellow footballer’s wife Coleen Rooney continued.

Mrs Vardy, whose evidence was repeatedly challenged by Mrs Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne, rejected a suggestion she was building a relationship with The Sun newspaper for numerous exclusives.

Mrs Vardy, who was watched throughout by Mrs Rooney who sat metres away in the courtroom, at one point grew tearful at the start of a question about some of the abuse she and her family have received.

In a viral social media post in October 2019, Coleen Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a “sting operation” and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.

Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer’s wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.

Earlier yesterday, Mrs Vardy denied being prepared “to lie under oath” when she said conversations with her agent about leaking information and receiving payment were “never serious”.

Mrs Vardy claimed she had no knowledge of agent Caroline Watt “monitoring” Mrs Rooney’s Instagram account.

“She’s never said once that she was stalking her account,” Mrs Vardy said.