Coleen Rooney wants to move on from her Wagatha Christie nickname as she heads into the I’m A Celebrity jungle saying: “I want to be known as Coleen from Liverpool.”
The wife of football star Wayne has been in the spotlight for over two decades but is even more famous after her legendary “It’s….Rebekah Vardy” tweet which exposed a rival WAG of giving stories about the Rooneys to the media. Her detective work to prove it Vardy and her team were responsible, led to her being dubbed Wagatha Christie.
But asked what she thinks of the name and also the prospect she could be known for something else in a few weeks, possibly even queen of the jungle, Coleen said: “I think I’d rather just be known as Coleen from Liverpool. Not from any other type of place. It’s just me, as I always have been, so hopefully people just think she’s that scouser that she’s always been.”
Coleen, 38, sat down to give her only interview ahead of going into the camp on Wednesday evening and just hours later she had begun filming. She was allowed several quick phone calls earlier that day but being a devoted and practical mum there was not much time for lovey-dovey chat with Wayne.
Coleen said: “My phone got taken off me when we landed. Like, when I came out of the airport. My last one was to Wayne, the kids were at school, so I’d already pre-spoken to them knowing that when I landed, they would have been at school. I just checked on everything.
And then before that I spoke to my mum because she’s looking after the kids as well as Wayne. So it was just good luck and I just wanted to see if the kids got off to school ok. You say last phone call but you are checking up on them before then to see if they’re all fine and things done your final plans of things that’s going on at home. Not having that contact, I’d say up until now, has been the biggest thing. You get used to having your phone and speaking to people all the time, you feel a bit secluded from the world.”
Fans this week saw in a video on her social media how Coleen had left a giant white board with instructions for her kids – and presumably Wayne and her mum Colette – setting out lessons and football practice and timings for the coming three weeks. Coleen is already looking forward to being reunited with her four children – Kai, 15, Klay, 11, Kit, 8, and Cass, six – although possibly taking after their father and his love of football, it turns out they won’t all be coming to Australia.
She says: “My two youngest ones are coming over. They all had the option but the two older ones decided that they would stay at home to continue with school and football. I think I said when you come you’ll have to bring your work with you, and they would be missing some football tournaments, so they quickly changed their minds! And also the fact that they don’t know when they get to see me. That was another big thing, is if I did last and stayed in close to the end, there’s not going to be any time spent with me so I explained that.
“Obviously, I would have liked them all to come out but it makes sense in a way and they both chose a wise decision not to miss out on anything back home and as soon as the show’s over, I’m back straight away. So, it’s one of those things, I put it in their hands, they decided and I agree with it really. I think it was missing the football that really did it for them, they didn’t want to miss any tournaments.”
Thinking of the moment she could see them again, she adds: “Yeah, it will be the most magical moment. Obviously, it will be the longest I would have been apart from them and I think this is why it’s taken me so many years to agree to do the show because I’ve not wanted to leave the children for so long. But I feel like they’re all at an age now where they understand and I’ve got a good group of people looking after them and out for them, so I feel like we’re at the point when I’m content everything will be ok.”
As for husband Wayne, the pair have had to get used to spending time apart as his jobs in football management now take him away from their Cheshire mansion. He is currently manager of Plymouth Argyle meaning he won’t be Down Under either, but pragmatic as ever, Coleen says they have found ways for this long distance marriage to work.
“Wayne comes back once a week, sometimes twice, depending on the fixtures,” she explains. “Usually, he has Sunday off so he might come home. What’s good about the championship[football league Plymouth play in] is that a lot of games are closer to me, closer to home, up in the North.
“So he’ll come home on a Saturday evening and spend Sunday with us, depending on what the boys have got on. So literally, on the Sunday before I flew off, we all went to Clay’s football tournament, we came home and had dinner together so it was a nice family day.
“Time together is limited, more so than ever now because of the travelling and stuff. But not long ago it was international break, so we went away and got two nights together which was lovely. The international breaks are probably when we spend the most time together. It’s an international break now but obviously I’m here otherwise we would have gone away and spent a night or two away together.”
For Wayne at least, he will be able to spend the next three weeks watching his wife on TV each night after finishing training sessions, and one would hope, also picking up the phone to vote to help keep her in camp to enjoy the full experience. ITV bosses are understandably delighted to get Coleen on the show.
Oti Mabuse says it took six years to get her in camp this year and they have been trying to score Coleen’s presence for even longer it seems. “The show has obviously asked me for years and years,” she says. “But I just feel like, obviously what I just said about the children, but also it’s a challenge. It’s something that I will never ever do again in my lifetime.
“It’s a one-off adventure and it’s a test of now, we are so caught up in a busy life and with devices and I just feel like now’s the time I Could go and do something for myself because I feel like I’m always doing, like I’m a mum, a wife, I feel like I can do something for me. It’s the perfect show. You are taking yourself away from a world where you’re constantly doing things to a world where it’s back to basics and you’ve got to fend just for yourself and look after yourself. Obviously, you’ve got campmates who you will create friendships with and help each other out with the team stuff and the tasks, but it’s taking yourself away from your comfort zone which has been a hard decision to make but I feel like it’s time and I’m ready for it.
“This show is going to be the most I’ve ever been exposed and people will get to see me for me. Everyone has opinions of people in the public eye, and what they’re like based on events in their life. But it’s a show that is nice to see what personalities are out there, not just written about. I think it will be interesting.
“To be honest with you, I’m doing the show for me. I’m not doing it for anyone else. Not to win anyone over. What you see is what you get and if people like it, they like it, and if they don’t, they don’t. Everyone’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s the most you will ever see me as me. I think it’s a show that exposes the person for what they are.”
Coleen is unlikely to get through the whole show without being asked about that trial with Vardy, especially with journalist Jane Moore in camp. She is clearly keen that it doesn’t dominate proceedings but she is not completely ruling out discussing it. “That’s a place that I’ve been, I’ve dealt with it,” she says.
“I did the documentary to draw a line under it and it depends on what conversation it actually is at the time. In my life now, I’m just moving forward and not looking back. That’s something I’ve done my whole life, dealt with things and moved forward at the time and got on.
“There are more important things to think about with the family and kids. So it depends on the conversation at the time and what’s said. But talking to the press and stuff, I did the documentary to explain what happened, my view on it and just get on with my life really.”
Looking ahead, many people have said it seems she is going on the show to make a return to the spotlight and also to make more TV. But Coleen, who had her own Disney+ documentary last year mainly about the court case with Vardy, does not seem to be thinking that far ahead.
She says: “I see this as a project. Since I did the documentary I took on other things, and I’m working for Applied Nutrition(health business she is working with as an ambassador). I’ve been having talks about going back to work again and this is one of the projects. Whether I go into TV after this, I’m taking one step at a time. After I signed with the nutrition company, this is something else I’ve taken on board. But, no, at the minute this is my main focus then come out, enjoy Christmas which I’m really looking forward to and then we start again in the new year. Up to now, this is the only project that I’m working on at the moment.”
* I’m A Celebrity starts tonight at 9pm on ITV and ITVX.
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