Wayne Rooney has admitted his wife Coleen’s legal battle with Rebekah Vardy has been “very traumatic” for them as a family.
On the sixth day of the highly-publicised Wagatha Christie trial, the former footballer was called to the witness box to give evidence.
Rebekah is currently suing Wayne’s wife Coleen for libel, after she publicly accused her of leaking “false stories” about her private life in 2019.
After entered 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 has 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 has come 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 Jamie 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.
During his time on the witness stand, Wayne insisted he had “no knowledge” of the Wagatha Christie investigation until Coleen posted her statement on social media.
Wayne also recalled an incident during the Euros in 2016, when England’s manager told him to speak to Jamie Vardy about his wife’s media attention.
Earlier in the trial, Rebekah was accused of deliberately sitting behind Coleen during a match, even though it wasn’t her seat, because it would be good publicity.
Wayne 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.
Rebekah launched her libel suit against Coleen back in 2020, after she accused her of leaking false stories to the press.
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 is defending the claim on the basis her post was “substantially true”.
Find out the biggest bombshells from the trial so far here.
