The judgment in the High Court libel case between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney will be published at midday on Friday.
The judge overseeing the case, Mrs Justice Steyn, will deliver her written ruling following a week-long trial in May.
Rebekah launched a libel lawsuit against Coleen back in 2020, after she publicly accused her of leaking “false stories” about her private life.
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 vehemently denied her claims.
Their lengthy legal battle concluded with a seven-day trial at London’s High Court in May.
The highly-publicised trial saw both WAGs give evidence in court, as Rebekah tried to prove she wasn’t behind the leaks.
However, Coleen defended her claim in court on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
As we await the judge’s ruling in the case, let’s take a look back at the the biggest bombshells from the trial:
The Peter Andre drama
During her first day on the witness stand, Rebekah was asked about an interview she gave in 2004 about an alleged sexual encounter with Peter Andre.
Excerpts of the article were read out in court, in which Rebekah said Peter had “the smallest trouser equipment I’ve ever seen”, which she described as a “miniature chipolata”.
When asked if the interview was “respectful” of Peter Andre, Rebekah claimed, “I was forced into a situation by my ex-husband to do this.”
“It is something that I deeply regret… It is not nice to read and I understand why this is being used and to me this is mudslinging and I was also threatened with mudslinging by Mrs Rooney’s team.”
Mr Sherborne then asked: “Did you feel particularly strongly about the size of his manhood that it should be made public?” Mrs Vardy then replied: “It was something that I was forced to say.”
Peter then took to Instagram to address the interview in a video, saying: “Fifteen years this has been going on and I kept quiet and I didn’t say anything and I let everyone have their laugh and I let everyone say what they wanted to say.”
“Yes, now she has gone to court and admitted that the story was made up and she did that because her ex-husband forced her to do it, fair enough.”
“But put that all aside and just think how that feels, if a man had said this about her anatomy and made up something, you can use your imagination, saying something very unflattering, there would be absolute outrage.”
“But because it has been said about me it’s been the butt of all jokes, I’ve taken it for 15 years. It’s brought up again, the only one that sits there and takes hit after hit about it is me.”
“I’ve been laughing about it for a while but think about how it would feel if it was the other way round, and that’s all I’m saying. Yes, we all know now it’s a made-up story, but it’s a little more serious than that.”
He added: “I think it’s not fair something like this can get brought up again and again and again – we talk about mental health, about being kind, and nothing seems to change, there you go.”
Pete captioned the post: “My thoughts on Rebekah V : Plse swipe to see all three vids. Here I was this morning sat in my robe feeling like I had to say something. Feel free to come to your own conclusion.”
“Just a couple of things first. Sorry to Emily and the children that have had to see and hear some not very nice things. Secondly that ridiculous article yest (about a certain remote control…) was written fifteen years ago and republished yesterday. To be fair the media are very kind to me in general.”
“Thirdly, you all know I like to take the piss out of myself but Maybe I felt a bit vulnerable this morning. Love from an Aussie Brit Greek ♥️♥️♥️”
Rebekah told her agent to leak a ‘well-known’ celebrity’s affair
During the seven day-trial, Rebekah was quizzed about WhatsApp conversations she had with her agent Caroline Watt, in which they discussed leaking information about other people.
Coleen’s lawyer David Sherborne told the court about a conversation between Rebekah and Caroline about three people who are not being identified.
He explained ‘Mrs F’ is a well-known celebrity, ‘Mr H’ is her estranged husband and ‘Mr G’ is a well-known footballer.
In a message read out in court, Rebekah wrote: “Oh my god have you seen how badly Mrs F is behaving I’m actually disgusted with her.”
In another, she said: “Leak the story about her shagging [G] behind [H’s] back.”
Caroline then replied: “I tried before but The Sun already knew about it and couldn’t prove it as usual.”
Rebekah said gossip about this story was already circulating, and the court was told that photos of Mrs F abroad dancing on a beach had been published.
The 40-year-old insisted in court that she was “just joking” when she texted her agent telling her to “leak” the information.
She said: “I used the word leak where I probably shouldn’t… I was just joking when I said this comment.”
In a written statement submitted to the court, Rebekah insisted her conversations with Caroline were “never serious”.
She said: “I have sometimes been caught up in the heat of the moment during conversations with Caroline where I have talked about ‘leaks’ and payment, but these conversations were never serious, and Caroline would have understood that.”
“I have never been paid for private information about anybody apart from myself or my family.”
Rebekah feared she would lose her baby after scandal broke
Rebekah was expecting her fourth child with her husband Jamie Vardy when the Wagatha Christie scandal broke.
She said: “The impact of Coleen’s allegation on me and my family has been traumatic. I was genuinely scared that I might lose my baby as a result of the stress I was under in the days and weeks after the post. We will never get that time back.”
Rebekah said in her statement that “within minutes” of Coleen making her allegations, there “was a torrent of insults calling me a snake, a grass and a rat”.
“I received threats, and death threats, including to my unborn baby,” she added.
Rebekah said she now finds it “really difficult to trust people”, had experienced “severe panic attacks” and was admitted to hospital three times in the aftermath of Coleen’s post.
Wagatha Christie post was Coleen’s ‘last resort’
Coleen said she is glad she “put an end” to Rebekah allegedly leaking other people’s information after her bid to catch the person “betraying” her “red-handed”.
She told the court she had given out warnings “many times” on social media and temporarily removed Rebekah from her account “but nothing had worked”.
Coleen said the post was her “last resort”, and claimed that her concerns “went beyond my own posts”.
She wrote in her witness statement: “I knew that I could not be the only one whose trust was being abused by the culprit and I now know from having seen the WhatsApp exchanges between Becky and Caroline that Becky was leaking information about a whole range of other people too.
“I thought whoever was doing this was probably betraying other people in this way too. There have been no leaks of posts from my account since. No doubt similar behaviour by Becky was also a real worry for many others too. I am glad I have put an end to it.”
Coleen opens up about marriage troubles with husband Wayne
Coleen opened up about her marriage troubles with her husband Wayne during the Wagatha Christie trial.
The couple started dating at the age of 16, got married in 2008 and went on to have four children together.
During her court testimony, Coleen was asked about a social media post referred to as “the pyjama post” – which she shared at the end of 2017.
It was a photo of her and her three eldest children wearing matching polka dot pyjamas in the family bed. Coleen was pregnant with her fourth child at the time.
Coleen had shared the post on both her private and personal Instagram accounts, but said there were lots of details about her life at the time which she didn’t want to share with the press.
She told the court: “With the pyjama post, at the time there had been a situation which was wrongdoing by my husband, but I was in a vulnerable situation.”
“I didn’t know how my marriage was going to work out. I didn’t know what was going on in that relationship so we agreed to work things out. I had not settled on this.”
“Is it that we are getting back together? At this time there was speculation I was back at the house as I was spending a lot of time at my parents house.”
“That was information I was happy to share with my private group and we were trying to sort out the relationship and see where things were going. But I didn’t want the public to know that. I didn’t want them to know, ‘this is it we are getting back together’. I know how quick the press are to jump on things.”
She told the court she had dealt with being written about in the press for “years and years” but Rebekah allegedly leaking stories about her to the newspapers was “different”.
Coleen said: “I was upset my personal information was getting passed on to newspapers. I had put up with it for years and years.”
“It was a group of people I had accepted into my personal space and they were going on to national newspapers which go out to millions and giving out my personal information without my consent.”
Coleen admits the trolling Rebekah received over scandal was ‘disgusting’
During her court testimony, Coleen admitted the trolling Rebekah received after her Wagatha Christie post in 2019 was “disgusting”.
As she gave evidence in court in May, Rebekah broke down in tears multiple times as she recalled the online abuse she received as a result of Coleen’s post.
The court was told how Rebekah was called “an evil rat face b****” on social media, and told “her baby should be put in an incinerator”.
The 40-year-old was expecting her fourth child with her husband Jamie Vardy at the time, and admitted she was “scared” she was going to lose their baby due to stress.
During her time on the witness stand, Coleen was asked about the trolling directed at Rebekah after her infamous Wagatha Christie post.
The mother-of-four said: “It was disgusting, I would never wish that on anyone.”
After Rebekah’s lawyer said she chose to do nothing about it, Coleen insisted she was taking the advice of her lawyers at the time.
When asked if she attacked Rebekah in the post, the WAG said: “I’ve not used vicious words, I thought that was an OK way of putting it.”
The mother-of-four also said she didn’t want to paint Rebekah as a villain, but felt like she had to do something.
After Rebekah’s barrister suggested Coleen revelled in the attention her post received, as he pointed out a number of Wagatha Christie memes that were saved on her phone, the 36-year-old insisted: “I’ve hated every minute of it.”
Coleen slams ‘evil’ texts Rebekah sent about her
Coleen slammed the “evil” texts Rebekah sent about her in wake of the Wagatha Christie scandal, as she finished giving evidence in court.
As she took the witness stand for the final time, the WAG was asked about foul-mouthed messages exchanged between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt.
The messages, which were revealed in court last week, were sent after Coleen publicly accused Rebekah of leaking false stories to the press.
In the texts, Rebekah repeatedly branded Coleen a “c***” and claimed she needed “to get over herself”.
When asked about the messages in court, Coleen said: “The messages that went on between them were just evil and uncalled for. There’s no need for it, I’ve never done anything to them.”
Wayne Rooney admits Coleen’s legal battle with Rebekah has been ‘very traumatic’
Wayne Rooney admitted his wife Coleen’s legal battle with Rebekah Vardy has been “very traumatic” for them as a family, as he gave evidence in court.
On the sixth day of the highly-publicised Wagatha Christie trial, the former footballer was called to the witness box.
Wayne told the court: “I don’t think anyone wants to be in court, certainly me and my wife don’t want to be in this court.”
“I’ve watched my wife over the last two, two and half years, really struggle with everything that’s gone on.”
Describing Coleen’s struggle, the sports star said she’s “become a different mother and a different wife” because of the scandal.
“It’s been very traumatic,” he continued.
“Hopefully whatever the judgment is… my wife, our children can go on and live our lives because it’s not something we have wanted to be a part of.”
As he was questioned by Rebekah’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson, Wayne said the trial had been hard to sit through.
He told the court: “Me sitting in this court room this week is the first time I’m hearing almost everything on this case.”
“It’s been a long week. It’s the first time I’m hearing everything on this case.”
The father-of-four also said the abuse that Rebekah received as a result of scandal, which came up multiple times during the trial, was “disgusting”.
Mr Rooney said: “It’s not right for a woman to receive that abuse, but I’ve never really discussed being part of any of this. I’ve been here to support my wife and this week is the first time I’m having any understanding of how its all happened.”
Wayne also testified that in 2017, Coleen expressed concern that someone was leaking information about her to The Sun newspaper.
The former footballer said he didn’t know anything else about it until 2019, when Coleen said she believed Rebekah was behind the leaks.
When asked why he didn’t get involved, he said: “I had my own work at the time, I was still playing football and Coleen works independently herself. It’s not something we discussed again.”
The 36-year-old also revealed why he didn’t message Rebekah’s husband Jamie Vardy about the situation.
“Jamie was a teammate for the national team, he’s not someone I’ve ever particularly been friends out of football with… I didn’t believe it was my place,” he confessed.
Jamie Vardy accuses Wayne Rooney of ‘talking nonse’ on the witness stand
Jamie Vardy slammed his former teammate Wayne Rooney and accused him of “talking nonsense” on the witness stand during the Wagatha Christie trial.
On the sixth day of the highly-publicised Wagatha Christie trial, the former footballer was called to the witness box to give evidence.
During his time on the witness stand, Wayne recalled an alleged incident during the Euros in 2016, when England’s manager told him to speak to Jamie about his wife’s media attention.
He told the court: “I was asked to speak to my team mate Jamie Vardy about the fact that Becky’s media activities were causing problems and distractions.”
“I was asked to speak to Mr Vardy by the England manager and the assistant manager and I carried out that instruction…”
“I felt in the best interests of the rest of the team, and having been asked by the manager of the England team, I carried out that instruction.”
When challenged by Rebekah’s lawyer that the conversation didn’t happen, Wayne said: “I’m sat here under oath, I 100 percent spoke to Mr Vardy about this situation.”
“It was an awkward moment for me to speak to Jamie about his wife but I thought it was necessary having been asked by the England manager,” he added.
Jamie later branded Wayne’s comments “nonsense”, and insisted he must be “confused”.
Speaking on the steps of London’s High Court, the Leicester City player said: “Wayne is talking nonsense.”
“He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky’s media work at Euro 2016.”
“There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky,” he added.
Shortly after Jamie made his statement, the footballer left the courthouse early with his wife in tow.
Wayne and Coleen skip last day of trial
Wayne and Coleen Rooney skipped the final day of the Wagatha Christie trial to jet off on holiday with their four children, which prompted an apology from their lawyer David Sherbourne.
Their barrister told court that the couple had a “long-standing travel arrangement” with their kids, and that they intended no “disrespect” by not being present for the final day of the trial.
Mr Sherbourne said they believed the trial would be over by that date, and judge Mrs Justice Steyn said: “I don’t take offence”.
Rebekah accepts her agent could have been behind leaks
Rebekah accepted that her agent could have leaked the stories about Coleen as the Wagatha Christie trial came to an end in May.
In his closing statement, the WAG’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC told the court that his client is a victim, and that she now accepts the possibility Caroline Watt, who had access to her Instagram account, may have been behind the leaks.
He told the court, “She does not know to this day what happened,” before adding that “it is possible, she accepts, that the source of the leak was Caroline Watt.”
“Mrs Vardy has obviously made mistakes. One of them, the most serious, was to trust someone she shouldn’t have [referring to her agent Caroline Watt].”
Hugh continued: “Another is the way she talked in private conversations with Ms Watt. She accepts she said things which, had she known they would come out in public, she would not have said.”
“This is a case about Mrs Vardy and the way she has been treated by thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people on social media… this goes on to this day. Even during this trial she’s continued to receive abuse on social media.”
“Throughout this case, she (Mrs Vardy) has sought to find out the position. The very first thing she said to Mrs Rooney was ‘send me the evidence, send me the posts. The suggestion that she is trying to hide something is quite wrong.”
Hugh said that Rebekah’s libel dispute with Coleen was a “very simple case” when “one clears away the conspiracy theories.”
He added that Rebekah would have to be “very clever or very cynical” to have deleted her WhatsApp back-ups, and also dismissed claims Rebekah deleted “incriminating” messages.
Hugh added: “Has Mrs Rooney proved that Mrs Vardy leaked the information from her post that she’s accused of leaking?”
“Mrs Vardy’s case is and always has been that she did not leak the information nor did she authorise anyone else to leak. She does not know to this day what happened. She does not know where this information came from.”
Rebekah’s barrister concluded that she wanted to be “vindicated” and that she was not the person who leaked Coleen’s private information.
He also talked about the “negative impact” the case has had on Rebekah, as he said: “The media is full of jokes about this case.”
“This is a case about Mrs Vardy and the way that she has been treated by thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people on social media. She has been subjected to abuse that goes on to this day.”
Hugh talked about the abusive messages Rebekah has received during the trial, and said: “This is about her trying to do something about that so she can move on with her life.”
Despite Caroline Watt’s involvement in the case, Rebekah’s former agent failed to appear in court for the libel trial.
The 40-year-old’s barrister insisted she did everything she could to get Ms Watt before the court, and even obtained a witness statement from her.
However, the statement was withdrawn “at the eleventh hour” due to “health reasons”.
A large chunk of Coleen’s evidence in court was based on WhatsApp messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt.
But they were unable to retrieve potential key messages from a phone owned by Caroline.
Last summer, Ms Watt accidentally dropped her mobile phone into the North Sea during a boat trip, shortly after a legal request was made to search the device for potential evidence.
The incident was described as “most unfortunate” by Coleen’s legal team at the time, and her barrister brought up the missing phone during his closing statement on Thursday.
David Sherborne claimed the missing phone incident was “far from an accident”, and alleged it was part of a concerted effort by Rebekah to “cover up incriminating evidence”.
He said Rebekah had a long history of giving stories to The Sun newspaper, and suggested it was “nonsensical” that she did not try to to pass on information about Coleen.
Coleen’s lawyer also insisted Rebekah was equally responsible for leaking the information, even if it was her agent who was actually sending the messages.
“She is not concerned about doing the dirty – just concerned about being seen to have done it,” he told the court.
“Mrs Rooney didn’t want to go through a trial, nor did her husband, who described the effect it has had on them and their family. Anyone could be forgiven for wondering why on earth this case has been allowed to get this far.”
