Coleen Rooney has taken to the witness stand for the first time in the high-profile Wagatha Christie trial.
The 36-year-old is being sued for libel by Rebekah Vardy, after she publicly accused her of leaking “false stories” about her private life in 2019.
In October 2019, the wife of Wayne Rooney claimed she planted false information on her private Instagram page and blocked everyone from her story – except Rebekah’s account.
The mother-of-four said stories about her basement flooding, returning to TV, and gender selection were only viewed by Rebekah’s account – and the false stories all made it into the press.
Coleen believed this was proof that the fellow WAG allegedly sold stories about her private life, but Rebekah has vehemently denied her claims – and is now suing her for libel.
Rooney, 36, is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
Coleen is being questioned by Rebekah Vardy’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson QC, in London’s High Court this afternoon.
He asked her about the viral post she shared about Rebekah, saying: “What were you trying to achieve by putting that post up?”
Coleen replied: “I wasn’t trying to achieve anything, I wanted it to stop [the leaking of private information] and this was the last resort. I was surprised myself on how much interest it caused”.
She agreed that she knew it was going to get picked up by the media, but said she did not know it would result in Rebekah being trolled online.
Coleen agreed that she didn’t do anything “to mitigate the abuse Mrs Vardy was suffering”, but said she was under the instruction of her legal team and made no more comments about it.
She told the court: “I’ve been silent… I don’t want to be here… it’s Mrs Vardy who has brought me here.”
In her witness statement, Coleen said she tried to resolve the legal battle with Rebekah on three separate occasions, but that they “were all in vain”.
The statement reads: “I have sought to resolve this matter amicably on various occasions because I was of the view that the time, money, resources and efforts involved could be better spent elsewhere, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“However, the efforts I made in May 2020, prior to proceedings being issued, in October 2020, after I had filed my defence, and in January 2021, during a stay in the proceedings, were all in vain.”
“I have no doubt that this litigation, whatever the outcome, will benefit neither Becky nor myself,” she added.
