Rebekah Vardy news – live: Coleen Rooney says marriage story hit at ‘vulnerable time’
Follow live on fourth day of trial
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Your support makes all the difference.Coleen Rooney has told the High Court she was in a “vulnerable position” when a story about her marriage to Wayne Rooney - that she believes was leaked from her private Instagram - hit the press.
She discussed a story in The Sun about the former England captain being allowed back into the family bed as she took the stand in her libel trial against fellow footballer’s wife Rebekah Vardy.
Ms Rooney also told the court her post naming-and-shaming Ms Vardy’s account as the suspected source of leaks to the press was her “last resort”.
The 36-year-old said she did not tell anyone about the ”sting” operation - which earned her the nickname “Wagatha Christie” when revealed to her followers - to try and work out who was behind the leaks.
Earlier in the morning, Ms Vardy revealed to the court she messaged Peter Andre and his wife about her now-infamous News of the World interview, in which she compared his private anatomy to a “chipolata”.
Ms Rooney is being sued by the wife of Premier League player Jamie Vardy for libel over the story leak accusations.
Vardy turns to Rooney and accuses her of reveling in 'my anguish and upset’
Rebekah Vardy reacted to Rooney’s ‘Wagatha Christie post’, saying: “Wow that’s war” in a message to her agent.
Ms Vardy is being asked about the day Coleen Rooney outed Ms Vardy’s account as the one that she believed was leaking stories to the press.
“It’s such a blur that day”, Vardy told the court.
Mr Sherborne suggested that her agent Caroline Watt was “feeding you lines” for Vardy to use as an explanation.
“Caroline writes out for you what you should say to Coleen Rooney.” Mr Sherborne said.
Caroline Watt suggested that Ms Vardy tell Ms Rooney that her Instagram account follows people she doesn’t even know about.
Ms Vardy spoke about the days following Rooney’s big reveal. She said: “‘It seemed she had weaponised her fan base against me, and I was desperately trying to do something to diffuse the situation.”
She referred to an exclusive interview she gave to Alison Boshoff in the days after.
“I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to believe,” Ms Vardy said.
Ms Vardy told the court that, during her phone call with Ms Rooney to try and diffuse the situation, Ms Rooney “quite frankly revelled in my anguish and upset”.
She turned directly to Ms Rooney when she said this last comment.
Vardy breaks down in the witness stand
Rebekah Vardy started crying in the witness stand during questioning about whether she leaked a story about Rooney’s flooded basement to the Sun.
Vardy told the court in a wobbling voice: “There was a lot of abuse at the time” and started to cry.
Mr Sherborne, Rooney’s lawyer, asked her if she needed another break and Ms Vardy shook her head.
Justice Steyn suggested that the court take a five minute break.
Ms Vardy then put her head down and covered her head with her hands. She stayed in that position, cradling her head, for a few seconds before she left the court room.
We’re now getting to the crux of the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial. Rebekah Vardy is being quizzed about fake stories that Coleen Rooney posted on her Instagram in order to catch the person who was leaking to the press.
Mr Sherborne is asking Vardy about a story posted by Rooney in which she shares that her house had been flooded. This fake story was leaked to the Sun and the court has been shown a screeshot of the story, which shows Rebekah Vardy’s account as the only Instagram account that has seen the story.
Rebekah Vardy maintains that she can’t remember seeing this post.
Mr Sherborne said: “We can see on the bottom left hand corner it is seen by only you.
“You know don’t you that she’s [Rooney] limited her followers to just one account, and no one else would have seen it... Let’s take you through the post. It’s a bottle of wine, and it says: ‘Needed after today. Flood in the basement of our new house when it all seem to be going so well.”
Vardy said : “I can’t recall seeing this one. I recall seeing something else with the blue prints of her house and I thought it was very strange.”
Mr Sherborne said: “Did you or did you not see this screenshot?”
“I don’t recall”, Ms Vardy said.
Recap: Vardy quizzed about leaking Rooney’s Instagram posts to media
Rooney’s lawyer Mr Sherborne turned to an article from September 2017 with a headline suggesting Wayne Rooney feared his marriage to Coleen was over.
He said the article included information about a post on Ms Rooney’s private Instagram account that included a photograph of her with her children and said: “No matter where I am they always follow me and I hope that lasts forever.”
Ms Vardy responded: “Yes that is nice.”
Mr Sherborne suggested the journalists who wrote it had been given either the photograph or information about its contents, from someone who had access to the private profile.
Ms Vardy said: “I can’t comment on something I haven’t seen.”
Mr Sherborne said: “Mrs Vardy ... that article refers explicitly to a post on Mrs Rooney’s Instagram account, doesn’t it? I put it to you that that came from you, through Ms Watt, to (the journalists) - true or not true?”
She replied: “No, absolutely not.”
The barrister said it was a “shame” that messages between the journalists and Ms Watt were “lying at the bottom of the sea in Davy Jones’ locker”, to which Ms Vardy asked: “Who is Davy Jones?”
Mrs Justice Steyn told her the reference to Davy Jones’ locker “just means the bottom of the sea”.
Mr Sherborne turned to an article from September 2017 with a headline suggesting Wayne Rooney feared his marriage to Coleen was over.
Rebekah Vardy returns to the witness box
Rebekah Vardy has returned to the witness box after having to take a break.
Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne asked Ms Vardy is she was ok to continue and she said she was.
Vardy takes a break from court and on the verge of tears
Rebekah Vardy has left the court for a break and appeared to be crying as she left the room.
Ms Vardy’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC had objected to the style of questioning just before the judge ruled for a break.
Mr Tomlinson, referring to Rooney’s lawyer, said: “Mr Sherborne is constantly commenting and making remarks to the witness. It’s not very pleasant.”
‘Something odd happened when I exported my Whatsapp messages’, Vardy says
Rebekah Vardy is being asked why all the photos and the video files from her Whatsapp messages with her agent are not available to the court.
Lawyer Sherborne told her: “Strangely all of the Whatsapp messages and video files have been deleted.”
Vardy said: “No they haven’t.”
To which, Mr Sherborne jibed: “If they haven’t, can we have them please?”
Vardy said: “Something odd happened as I was exporting all the files.”
Mr Sherborne summarised: “We say delete. You say something odd happened.”
“I didn’t delete my messages,” Ms Vardy insisted.
Breaking: Peter Andre speaks out about Rebekah Vardy ‘chipolata’ jibe
Peter Andre has hit back at Rebekah Vardy’s comments about the “size of his manhood” made in a newspaper article in which she compared it to a “chipolata”.
Her remarks have been brought back to public attention as Ms Vardy faces off against Coleen Rooney in a high-profile libel trial.
Peter Andre speaks out about Rebekah Vardy ‘chipolata’ jibe about manhood
Peter Andre has hit back at Rebekah Vardy’s comments about the “size of his manhood” which saw her compare it to a “chipolata”.
Peter Andre hits back at Rebekah Vardy’s ‘chipolata’ jibe
Peter Andre has hit back at Rebekah Vardy’s comparison of his private parts to a minature chipolata”.
Ms Vardy made the comments in 2004 and addressed them during her libel trial at the High Court on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Peter Andre used Instagram to hit back at the jibe, claiming there would be “absolute outrage” had the tables been turned.
Wearing a dressing gown in the video, Andre said: “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.”
Rebekah Vardy ‘embarassed’ to be called ‘unofficial leader of the Wags’, court hears
In case you missed it..
Rebekah Vardy has told the High Court it was “embarassing” to be called the “unofficial WAG leader” in a newspaper article.
The 40-year-old was asked about a 2018 interview she did withThe Sun as she returned to the witness stand on the third day of her libel trial against Coleen Rooney.
The court heard the article carried the headline: “Becky Vardy reveals the secret to England’s World Cup success is down to the lads getting to spend time with their Wags.”
Read the full story here:
Rebekah Vardy ‘embarassed’ to be called ‘unofficial leader of the Wags’, court hears
Model denies feeding journalist with the line