In The Sun’s VIP box with Rebekah, agent dragged into ‘Wagatha’ leaks row
THE SUN treated Rebekah Vardy and her agent to a glitzy night out just months before fellow WAG Coleen Rooney accused her of leaking stories to the newspaper.
Ms Vardy and Caroline Watt were invited to a VIP box the tabloid had hired for the National Television Awards at London’s O2 Arena in January 2019.
A photograph from the night – one of the showbiz events of the year – shows the two women posing with the late Love Island star Mike Thalassitis and socialite Lizzie Cundy in the box, which is thought to have cost about £10,000 and usually comes fully stocked with champagne and highquality food.
The image has come to light as Mrs Watt was dragged into the ‘Wagatha Christie’ legal battle, in which Mrs Vardy is suing Mrs Rooney for libel.
The case began after Mrs Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney, claimed in October 2019 that Mrs Vardy, 39, had given a series of stories about her to The Sun. Mrs Vardy vehemently denies the allegation. Mrs
Rooney, 35, alleged the stories had all been obtained from her private Instagram account which she allowed only 300 ‘trusted friends and family’ to follow. She had become concerned that information she posted was appearing in the newspaper, and prepared a trap to find the leaker by posting fake updates to increasingly limited circles of people.
Court papers submitted by Mrs Rooney’s legal team appear to demand that Mrs Vardy and Mrs Watt reveal details of their private communications. Mr Justice Nicklin has ordered a legal hearing to determine what should be disclosed and whether Instagram should be asked to release its records.
Mrs Watt, 39, is also cited as a respondent in the hearing – the first time she has been formally named in the case, which has been rumbling on for more than 18 months.
Mrs Watt and Mrs Vardy were also pictured at the TV awards with actor Richard Madden, star of the hit BBC1 drama Bodyguard. Mother-of-two Mrs Watt, whose husband Steve played for Chelsea and Swansea City before becoming manager of Hythe Town in Kent, has been friends with Mrs Vardy for at least six years.
The former Virgin Atlantic air hostess began to manage Mrs Vardy when her husband, Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, shot to fame in 2015.
She oversaw her client’s newspaper and magazine interviews and also brokered the deal for Mrs Vardy to appear on the hit reality TV show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018.
Before the pandemic, she was a regular visitor to the Vardys’ Lincolnshire home.
Mrs Watt was formerly employed by talent agency The Frontrow Partnership, but left in 2019 to go it alone, and her clients include the former Page 3 girl Nicola McLean.
A hearing to discuss Mrs Rooney’s request for ‘specific disclosure’ of information from Mrs Vardy and Mrs Watt is expected to take place in February, ahead of a potentially explosive court battle between the two warring footballers’ wives.