Coleen Rooney has opened up about the ‘Wagatha Christie’ dispute for the first time in the new Disney+ documentary, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story. Told from Coleen’s perspective, the documentary goes into her process when trying to find out whether Rebekah Vardy was the one leaking stories to The Sun – as well as looking at Coleen’s marriage and family life.
Coleen defends Rebekah Vardy
Despite the explosive feud between the pair, and the libel case between the two, Coleen somewhat supported Rebekah following the shocking social media trolling after Coleen published that she was the one behind the leaks, saying: “Rebekah didn’t deserve the trolling that she got.”
Coleen’s reaction to Wayne’s arrest
After remaining silent about an incident in which Wayne was arrested for drink driving while in the car with a young woman after a night out, Coleen has finally spoken about the incident, admitting that it needed ended their marriage as she took the children to her parents’ house in the aftermath while deciding what to do. It was then that the first stories from her Instagram account were leaked.
© Disney+Rebekah reached out with messages after leaking Coleen’s private account posts to The Sun
Despite being the one behind the leaks, Rebekah would reach out to Coleen with supportive messages after stories including her fender bender car crash, updates on her relationship with Wayne and details of her holiday with her sons were leaked to the press. She even invited Coleen to stay at their home while she was staying with her parents following Wayne’s arrest.
© Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/ShutterstockColeen began to be papped when she was 16 going to school
Piers Morgan opened up about being a newspaper editor at the time, and the interest surrounding Wayne and Coleen, who were teenagers dating one another at the time. As such, the first paparazzi shots of Coleen were as she travelled to school in her uniform aged just 16.
Coleen shared several warnings before outing Rebekah Vardy
Coleen has posted on her Instagram account on several occasions, pointing out that someone on her private Instagram account had been leaking stories. She shared two separate posts pointing out that someone had spoken to the press from her account, and to stop it.
© Disney+Coleen accidentally sent the first fake story to two people, not one
Coleen prepped her Instagram settings to make sure only Rebekah’s account saw her posts three times before setting her ‘trap’, after realising that she had accidentally missed two other accounts while manually going through and blocking everyone on her list from her Stories. By the time she posted her fake gender selection story, only Rebekah’s account had seen it.
Coleen’s little sister Rosie
Coleen’s parents adopted little Rosie after being involved in the Home from Home charity when she was just two, with Coleen describing her as “the sister I never thought I was going to have”. Rosie had Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder, and required 24 hour care as her condition worsened. She died when she was 14 back in 2013. In tears, Coleen said: “To lose a child is the worst thing that could happen to anyone but when you look back now, she gave us so many good years of happiness and love.”
Coleen struggled living in the US
Coleen was deeply homesick after moving to the US with her family for Wayne’s career, with her family saying that she “wasn’t herself” as she struggled with not knowing anyone and being away from her family. Wayne arranged to move back to the UK for her due to her struggles, signing for Derby County.
© Photo: Instagram'Don't play games with a girl who can play better'
Coleen shared a post hinting that she had discovered the source of the leaks ahead of sharing her now famous post accusing Rebekah's account of leaking news stories about her. The post read: "Don't play games with a girl who can play better." She explained: "The next morning I took the kids to school, I went for breakfast, I decided that I was gonna put it on my Twitter account, Instagram and Facebook. This was my chance to put a stop to it."
© Dave BenettNo one knew that Coleen was going to send the post
Coleen's PR team, friends and family had no idea that she was going to share the statement, and Coleen admitted that she had no idea how wild the media attention surrounding her post would be.
© Dan KitwoodColeen didn't find 'Wagatha Christie' funny
"The moment it all broke out, it was light-hearted, there was nothing offensive over the whole Wagatha Christie thing. But I personally didn't find it funny. I just wasn't in a position to laugh about it."
© Karwai TangWayne Rooney wanted to train as a lawyer
During the trial, Wayne got so into the case - and speaking to Coleen's lawyers - that he decided he was going to train as a lawyer himself. He said: "It was interesting because I do like crime documentaries and in particular the different techniques the two barristers used." Smiling, Coleen added: "He was then going to apply for law school and he had all these plans,' before adding that the 'little moments' carried them through." Coleen's lawyer Paul Lunt joked about the footballer's enthusiasm, saying: "I'm not saying he is a modern day Columbo but certainly had we have given him a gown and a wig he was bang up for asking a few questions."
