Rebekah Vardy has burst out crying in the witness box on the second day of the Wagatha Christie libel trial when Coleen Rooney’s lawyer brought up how Twitter trolls had once threatened to rape her two-year-old daughter – as she denied lying under oath by saying she rarely leaked stories.
The 40-year-old took the stand today for another grilling under the glare of her bitter rival Coleen Rooney, 36, who – in October 2019 – accused her of leaking stories about her private life.
Coleen publicly ‘outed’ her fellow WAG of sharing three fake stories she had posted on her personal Instagram with The Sun as part of what she described as a social media ‘sting’ operation. Rebekah vehemently denied the allegation – leading her to launch the £3million legal action which is now in its second day.
This afternoon, barrister David Sherbourne referred to an article in the The Sun from 2017 where Rebekah spoke of the ‘vile’ abuse she had received online – including the sick rape threats against her child.
‘Horrible stuff’, said Mr Sherborne, before judge Mrs Justice Steyn saw that Rebekah was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue and suggested the court took a break. Rebekah shook her head and carried on.
Asked again a few moments later if she would like a break, Rebekah replied: ‘I don’t think it’s going to make any difference, to be honest.’
Rebekah denied the suggestion she was building a relationship with The Sun by ‘consistently’ providing it with exclusives.
‘I’m working with The Sun because they are going to print the story. They are going to give me the opportunity to give my story,’ she said.
Earlier today, Mr Sherborne read out a series of texts in which Rebekah told her agent Caroline Watt to ‘leak’ stories about footballer Riyad Mahrez, the model Danielle Lloyd, and one unnamed high-profile celebrity.
In response, she told the court these exchanges were ‘never serious’ and Ms Watt would have ‘understood’ this – prompting Mr Sherbourne to dramatically accuse her of lying under oath.
Rebekah did admit to sharing a tip about Danny Drinkwater – who, like Mahrez, was her husband Jamie’s colleague at Leicester.
The WAG said she informed Ms Watt he was about to leave police custody because she was ‘deeply affected’ by drink-driving after ex-husband ‘killed two people’.
But when asked about a text where she told Ms Watt she ‘wanted money’ for the story about Drinkwater, Rebekah insisted she was joking.
Coleen was seen furiously taking notes throughout her rival’s cross-examination, while Wayne looked straight ahead, unable to look at her as she gave evidence.
Among the key claims heard at today’s sensational Wagatha Christie showdown –
- Rebekah tried to ‘do the dirty’ and spill the beans on unrest in the Leicester dressing room when star player Riyad Mahrez went ‘on strike’;
- ‘Spoke with agent Caroline Watt about leaking a story about female celebrity ”cheating on her husband with footballer”, and Danielle Lloyd’s miscarriage’;
- Rebekah today admitted to sharing a tip on midfielder Danny Drinkwater’s drink-drive arrest, but denied asking for money;
- She told court she was ‘deeply affected’ by drink-driving because her former husband ‘killed two people’;
- Rebekah spotted one of Coleen’s children without a seatbelt only to be told ”It’s on her private Insta so can’t do anything with it”’;
- Rebekah admitted to directing Ms Watt to look at Coleen’s private Instagram in relation a post she made on the car crash;
- Rebekah denied being prepared ‘to lie under oath’ when she said conversations with her agent about leaking information and receiving payment were ‘never serious’;
- Rebekah revealed linked up with Caroline Watt after joining talent management agency Front Row Partnership (FRP) in 2016 – saying it was a way to ‘tell my side of the story’. The agency also represents Ant Middleton;
- Rebekah ‘deliberately took someone else’s seat behind Coleen Rooney at Euro 2016 match so she could boost her publicity’;
Today saw the toxic feud between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy spill out into the High Court for a second day after months of painstaking pre-trial hearings.
Below is a summary of the evidence as it was heard in court:
Rebekah ”’tried to do the dirty” and spill the beans on unrest at Leicester when star play Riyad Mahrez ”went on strike”’
Today, the court heard claims Rebekah tried to ‘do the dirty’ and spill the beans on unrest in the Leicester City dressing room when star player Riyad Mahrez went ‘on strike’.
The court heard Rebekah contacted her agent Caroline Watt after Mahrez failed to turn up for training for the second day running.
At the time of the exchange in February 2018, Mahrez was seeking a move to Manchester City.
In the WhatsApp message, Rebekah wrote: ‘Mahrez not turned up for training again. The lads are fuming.’
Ms Watt suggested she contact TV reporter Rob Dorsett, who was one of the journalists covering the story for Sky Sports News.
Wagatha Christie timeline: How Coleen and Rebekah’s long-running, vicious war unfolded before the eyes of the world
September 2017 to October 2019 – The Sun runs a number of articles about Coleen, including that she travelled to Mexico to look into baby ‘gender selection’ treatment, her plan to revive her TV career and the flooding of her basement.
October 9, 2019 – Coleen uses social media to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her private Instagram account to the tabloids.
Coleen says she spent five months attempting to work out who was sharing information about her and her family based on posts she had made on her personal social media page.
After sharing a series of ‘false’ stories and using a process of elimination, Coleen claims they were viewed by one Instagram account, belonging to Rebekah.
Rebekah, then pregnant with her fifth child, denies the allegations and says various people had access to her Instagram over the years.
She claims to be ‘so upset’ by Coleen’s accusation, later adding: ‘I thought she was my friend but she completely annihilated me.’
The public dispute makes headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending.
How it all began: On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy, 40, of leaking ‘false stories’ about her to the press in an Instagram post (above)
Shortly after Coleen’s public accusation, Rebekah – who was pregnant and on holiday in Dubai at the time – denied any involvement (above)
February 13, 2020 – In a tearful appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Rebekah says the stress of the dispute caused her to have severe anxiety attacks and she ‘ended up in hospital three times’. Coleen says in a statement that she does not want to ‘engage in further public debate’.
June 23, 2020 – It emerges that Rebekah has launched libel proceedings against Coleen.
Rebekah’s lawyers allege she ‘suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed’.
November 19-20, 2020 – The libel battle has its first High Court hearing in London. A judge rules that Coleen’s October 2019 post ‘clearly identified’ Rebekah as being ‘guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust’.
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the ‘natural and ordinary’ meaning of the posts was that Rebekah had ‘regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Coleen’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Coleen’s private posts and stories’.
February 8-9, 2022 – A series of explosive messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt – which Coleen’s lawyers allege were about her – are revealed at a preliminary court hearing.
The court is told Rebekah was not referring to Coleen when she called someone a ‘nasty bitch’ in one exchange with Ms Watt.
Coleen’s lawyers seek further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before further information could be extracted from it.
February 14 – Coleen is refused permission to bring a High Court claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information to be heard alongside the libel battle. A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Steyn, says the bid was brought too late and previous opportunities to make the claim had not been taken.
April 13 – Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial, the High Court is told as the case returns for another hearing.
The agent revokes permission for her witness statement to be used, and withdraws her waiver which would have allowed Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
April 29 – Rebekah ‘appears to accept’ that her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories, Coleen’s barrister David Sherborne tells the High Court. He argues that a new witness statement submitted by Rebekah suggests Ms Watt was the source but Rebekah claims she ‘did not authorise or condone her’.
Rebekah’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson says the statement did not contain ‘any change whatever in the pleaded case’, with her legal team having no communication with Ms Watt.
Rebekah replied that she didn’t want the story to ‘come back on me.’
Under cross examination from Coleen Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne, she said: ‘It was pretty much unheard of for
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