Exclusive:
Coleen Rooney previously admitted to ‘feeling’ for Rebekah Vardy as she was the subject of relentless abuse during the Wagatha trial – but this has been met with criticism
Coleen Rooney confessed to “feeling” for Rebekah Vardy as she was targeted by vile trolls. Now, a fellow WAG has hit out at Coleen’s comments and claims she did “absolutely nothing” to stop the abuse being hurled at Rebekah.
The wife of Wayne Rooney went head to head in court as Dancing On Ice’s Rebekah launched a libel case against the Liverpudlian following her infamous tweet. In 2019, Coleen took to social media claiming that Rebekah’s Instagram account was responsible for leaking stories to the press, an allegation which she denies.
It emerged during the High Court case that Caroline Watt, Rebekah’s former agent may have been responsible for posts from Coleen’s private Instagram being leaked, as she had access to Vardy’s account. But after Coleen shared her post with her millions of online followers, Rebekah became the subject of relentless abuse from vile social media trolls.
The businesswoman and charity ambassador previously spoke about the toll the abuse had on her and cried while appearing on Loose Women as she read one of the sickening messages. During her Disney+ series as she reflected on the abuse Rebekah had faced, Coleen said: “It was painful watching it.
“In a weird way, I felt for her because she chose to go to court and put herself in that situation, it wasn’t nice.” Vardy’s lawyers argued that Coleen’s post had seriously harmed her career and reputation. But in response to this, a source close to the warring WAGs has now told the Mirror: “She felt so sorry for Becky she did absolutely nothing to stop it even after being asked several times. Coleen was well aware of what the abuse and bullying was doing to Rebekah Vardy.
“In fact her legal team went so far to continue to reject any of Rebekah’s serious harm case right up until the first day of court when they eventually accepted and conceded on not only that point but others also causing severe distress and unnecessary expense.” During the Disney+ series, Coleen commented that going to court was her worst nightmare and that she had hoped to settle the libel claim outside of the court room.
Coleen is now relaunching her TV career, having entered the ITV I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! camp and has stated she had wanted to leave the infamous Wagatha trial in the past. Instead, Coleen hopes that viewers of the programme will see the real her and know her as “Coleen from Liverpool.”
When asked by the Mirror what she thinks about the name and the possibility of being remembered in a different light, perhaps as 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.”
However, during the launch programme on Sunday, viewers saw Coleen cringe when her social media nickname was used by her co-star. Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough was tasked with choosing one celebrity to partner up with. His pal and colleague Melvin Odoom instantly believed he would be in luck due to their bond.
However, Dean ran across the beach yelling: “Wagatha Christie… You’re coming with me!” as Coleen cringed and shook her head. In an interview before heading into camp, Coleen said she had put the public legal battle with Rebekah behind her, and was keen on “moving forward”. She said: “That’s a place that I’ve been, I’ve dealt with it. 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, moved forward at the time and got on. There are more important things to think about with the family and kids.”
Follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.