The Rooneys: ‘We’re as good as we can be at this point ...’
After being photographed without her wedding ring, the footballer’s wife posts truth about their marriage
WITH a £100million fortune between them, Wayne and Coleen Rooney appear to want for little in life. But all the money in the world cannot make up for an errant husband, Mrs Rooney said yesterday, in a candid social media post about their marriage.
She put paid to rumours that the couple were heading for divorce and announced that she is standing by her husband after he was caught drink-driving in the company of another woman.
Rooney had made “silly and selfish mistakes” fuelled by alcohol, she said, admitting the marriage had been in trouble.
“People think when you earn a lot of money everything is fine. Yes, there are advantages, but this isn’t everything in life and it doesn’t al- ways make people happy,” she said. Rooney earns £150,000 a week at Everton and a recent rich list put his fortune at £93 million, while Mrs Rooney has added several million through fashion and beauty ventures. She is pregnant with the couple’s fourth child and was on holiday in September when Rooney was arrested while three times over the legal limit. He was at the wheel of a car belonging to Laura Simpson, an office worker with whom he had been drinking in a Cheshire bar. He pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was ordered to undertake community service.
The Rooneys’ marriage has weathered several storms. In 2004, the footballer admitted to paying for sex with prostitutes while he was a “young and stupid” teenager before he settled down with Coleen.
In 2010, it was alleged in newspaper reports that he had slept with prostitutes while she was pregnant. The couple, childhood sweethearts from Liverpool, wed in 2008 on the Italian Riviera with a magazine paying a reported £2.5 million for the rights. Mrs Rooney was recently photographed without her wedding ring, but she wrote: “Before the headlines start … No, I’m not taking Wayne back as he’s never left. A few people are probably thinking [I] am stupid for staying in my marriage. I am not stupid, I know my own mind and it’s something I want to try and work on. Do I love Wayne? Yes I do. If I didn’t then I wouldn’t be trying to make it work.
“I know I would be fine on my own, with just me and my children, but I don’t want to live like that, I want to try and continue our marriage and live as a family. I’m not saying everything is fine and forgotten about, but we are as good as can be at this point …”
Mrs Rooney said that if she is photographed without her wedding ring in future “it’s just because I’m going to the gym or haven’t put it on”.
Rooney has been seen painting park benches and working in a garden centre as part of his community service and he apologised in court for an “unforgivable lack of judgment in driving while over the legal limit”.
Her husband is portrayed unfairly in the press, Mrs Rooney said in her post. “He has always had a hard time. I’m not going to list his good qualities as I don’t think he deserves it at this time but one thing is that he is a brilliant dad. He’s made silly and selfish mistakes, some he’s learnt from, some obviously not. However maybe that will change?
“In life, you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But one thing I do know is that too much alcohol on a night out is dangerous and a lot of stupid mistakes are made and said under the influence.”
‘He’s made silly and selfish mistakes, some he’s learnt from, some obviously not. However, maybe that will change?’