Vardy and her agent stalked me, says Rooney
Pair’s messages were ‘evil and uncalled for’, wife of former England footballer tells Wagatha Christie trial
‘There’s been a few unfortunate things that have happened in my life and they have got publicity. It’s happened quite a few times’
‘I’m totally the opposite of what they described. I’m not a bad person; the words they used are just totally untrue and there’s no need for it’
COLEEN ROONEY has claimed Rebekah Vardy and her agent “monitored and stalked me”, as she accused both women of sending “evil” messages about her.
Mrs Rooney, the wife of former England player Wayne Rooney, was giving evidence at the High Court in the second week of the Wagatha Christie libel trial, following her 2019 social media post, which accused Mrs Vardy, wife of Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City striker, of leaking stories to the tabloid press.
Mrs Rooney, 36, told the court that Mrs Vardy, 40, and her agent, Caroline Watt, sent “evil and uncalled for” messages about her when they were discussing her private Instagram posts.
The court has previously heard that Mrs Vardy and Ms Watt, who is no longer involved in the legal proceedings owing to ill health, exchanged lengthy Whatsapp messages in which Mrs Rooney was called a “nasty b----”.
“There is no need to talk about me or my Instagram, especially with Caroline Watt,” Mrs Rooney told the court.
“I don’t know what Caroline Watt looks like – I’ve never spoken to her, never met her.”
She continued: “I’m totally the opposite of what they described. I’m not a bad person; the words they used are just totally untrue and there’s no need for it. I’ve done nothing to them for them to talk about, and monitor, and stalk me.” The court heard that Mrs Rooney concocted her plan to carry out a sting operation when she tried to remove Mrs Vardy as a follower from her private Instagram account, but her fellow Wag noticed and texted her to ask why. Mrs Rooney said the pair were “not good friends” and that if someone had unfollowed her, she would “probably just forget about it and not message” the person, adding: “I wouldn’t have been that bothered, really.”
She added: “I felt it was suspicious. Obviously, I had suspicions in other ways, so this just added to the suspicions that I had.”
Mrs Rooney admitted telling a “fib”, informing Mrs Vardy that it was probably her children who always play with her phone.
After reinstating Mrs Vardy as a follower on her private account, Mrs Rooney started posting fake stories and changed the settings so that only Mrs Vardy’s account could see them.
Over the course of the next few months, three of the stories appeared in The Sun, prompting Mrs Rooney to reveal her findings on social media.
The court heard that Mrs Rooney initially wrote her Wagatha Christie post down with a pen and paper in her notepad, before typing it up and sending it to her brother who manages her social media accounts.
Mrs Rooney said she chose not to approach Mrs Vardy privately with the accusation because she felt she would try to “cover it up” and “would not be truthful”. After she shared the post, the court heard that Mrs Vardy text her saying, “what the f--- is this?”, to which Mrs Rooney replied: “You know what it is.”
Mrs Vardy then asked Mrs Rooney: “Who is your lawyer?”
Mrs Rooney, who said she found the threat of legal letters and lawyers intimidating, was surprised that the story became “as big as it has been”.
The mother of four also discussed her rise to fame and reports of her husband’s inappropriate behaviour, telling the court: “There’s been a few unfortunate things that have happened in my life and they have got publicity. “It’s happened quite a few times. “We’ve dealt with it as a couple, and as a family.”
The hearing, which is expected to conclude on Thursday, continues.