Coleen Rooney has claimed the ‘intense’ anxiety caused by the Wagatha Christie court case triggered a secret illness.
The TV personality, 37, was sued for libel by Jamie’s wife Rebekah Vardy, 41, last May with a nine-day trial ultimately resulting in Coleen’s favour.
The drama-filled story will be covered in a Disney+ documentary dropping on October 18 – which will follow Coleen and her husband Wayne Rooney through the high-profile court case.
In 2019 Coleen accused her former close friend Rebekah of leaking private stories about her to the British press, something that the latter continues to deny.
Speaking to the camera for part of her docu-series The Real Wagatha Story, Coleen revealed the May 2022 court case triggered her reactive arthritis, which causes redness, swelling and inflammation in the joints.
Behind the scenes: Coleen Rooney has claimed the ‘intense’ anxiety caused by the Wagatha Christie court case triggered a secret illness
![Rival: The TV personality, 37, was sued for libel by Jamie's wife Rebekah Vardy (pictured in 2019), 41, last May with a nine-day trial ultimately resulting in Coleen's favour](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/76369899-12613699-image-m-41_1696926402874.jpg)
Rival: The TV personality, 37, was sued for libel by Jamie’s wife Rebekah Vardy (pictured in 2019), 41, last May with a nine-day trial ultimately resulting in Coleen’s favour
She said: ‘It caused anxiety and there were lots of tears. I have reactive arthritis. I’ve had it previously but this situation brought it on a lot more.
‘It stripped me of my character and I didn’t want to socialise with people. I was completely in my own world. It was not a nice place to be.’
The WAG continued: ‘It hit home just how low I was at that time. My emotions really came out and that made the interview process quite intense, but then it was also a good chance to reflect.
‘I stuck to my guns from beginning to end. My story never changed from day one, and I was telling the truth.’
The documentary is the first time that Coleen is opening up about what life was like behind the scenes during the court case, in which Ms Justice Steyn ruled in her favour.
Coleen also admitted she never expected the case to blow up to the extent that it did.
The mother-of-four, who has been with former Everton player Wayne since she was 16 years old, continued: ‘I thought there might be a few cross words said, but I didn’t think it would explode like it did.
‘It consumed my life for a few years so it’s a weight off my shoulders now, and I can get back to focusing properly on my family and friends, who mean a lot to me.’
![How it all began: On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy's Instagram account of leaking 'false stories' about her to the press (above)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/19483804-12613699-How_it_all_began_On_October_9_2019_Coleen_Rooney_now_36_accused_-a-42_1696926444391.jpg)
How it all began: On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney, now 36, accused Rebekah Vardy’s Instagram account of leaking ‘false stories’ about her to the press (above)
![Marriage: Wayne joined Coleen each day in the May 2022 court case](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/74444573-12613699-Marriage_The_couple_have_been_dogged_by_reports_of_Wayne_s_infid-a-43_1696926521336.jpg)
Marriage: Wayne joined Coleen each day in the May 2022 court case
![In court: Rebekah brought a libel trial against Coleen after Coleen accused Rebekah of leaking details of Coleen's private life to the press (Rebekah pictured with her footballer husband Jamie Vardy during the trial in May last year)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/58114181-12613699-In_court_Rebekah_brought_a_libel_trial_against_Coleen_after_Cole-a-44_1696926540447.jpg)
In court: Rebekah brought a libel trial against Coleen after Coleen accused Rebekah of leaking details of Coleen’s private life to the press (Rebekah pictured with her footballer husband Jamie Vardy during the trial in May last year)
Coleen’s comments come after Rebekah Vardy blasted her and Wayne’s marriage.
The 41-year-old reality star – who is married to soccer player Jamie Vardy, 36 – was furious after Coleen discussed the Wagatha Christie feud with British Vogue and took to Instagram to slam her rival.
After a fan accused her of being jealous of Coleen, Rebekah hit back: ‘Jealous of what exactly! Spare me the pain seriously… I wouldn’t put up with my husband sleeping with hookers end of! No excuses.’
In the interview, Coleen spoke out about the libel trial Rebekah brought against her, after Coleen accused her of leaking details of Coleen’s private life to the press.
Coleen won the trial but Rebekah criticised her for bringing it up again, writing: ‘What I don’t get why you would want to keep bringing it up. It’s boring now! The public doesn’t care and neither do I. She won that’s the end of it! Be happy move on… because I know I have.
‘She just can’t let it go.’
One fan defended Coleen by saying: ‘You dragged her through the courts to hang yourself so she has a right to tell her side tbh. You made the mistakes here, not her!’
Rebekah argued back: ‘What a year later! Give me a break! And yes I did because I don’t do anything wrong! And I’ll take that to my grave! If I had done it believe me I would have flicked the middle finger and said yeah and what!’
The Instagram user replied: ‘You were found guilty though by the top suits and you can’t really preach innocence now can you? I know you’d rather it go away but she still has a right to tell her side and her experience of this ordeal too and people want to listen.’
And, Rebekah continued: ‘I’ve preached innocence from day one and that won’t change! And are you telling me they don’t get things wrong… because I have a very long list that they f***** up! But it doesn’t suit the narrative! It’s fine I’m cool with being the bad guy! Maybe I’ll just start playing up to that now.’
During last year’s blockbuster Wagatha Christie libel trial, text messages between Rebekah and her agent Caroline Watt were revealed to the court in which they discussed leaking stories about Coleen to the press.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Coleen said one of the most hurtful things came after Rebekah, who Wayne’s wife accuses of doing things ‘only to be in the public eye’, discovered Coleen had blocked her on Instagram.
‘What a c*** x’ Vardy wrote, before following it up with: ‘Maybe I should say something about Rosie x’. Rosie McLoughlin was Coleen’s sister who died aged 14 following a lifelong battle with Rett syndrome.
Coleen revealed how she would sit up until 2am working on her Wagatha Christie sting. She also revealed that her football star husband Wayne Rooney told her to tell the truth in court.
Coleen emerged victorious in the Wagatha Christie battle, with Vardy ordered to pay up to £1.5million for her legal fees.
Rebekah had sued Coleen for libel over an accusation her account had been used to leak details of Coleen’s private life to the press. This came after Coleen staged an elaborate sting operation to find out who was passing on stories about her to The Sun.
Of the discussion surrounding her sister, Coleen said: ‘How can someone try to create a story around someone’s sister who’s passed away? How can you be that vicious?’
‘I’ve never fallen out with the partner of another footballer in my life and I never thought I would,’ Coleen revealed in her latest interview.
That was until she suspected Rebekah of leaking stories about her to the press.
However Coleen said that before the drama, she had already felt her and Rebekah’s friendship was ‘unnatural’ and ‘forced’, adding: ‘I’m very savvy about that.’
She said that she ‘knew she (Rebekah) enjoyed the limelight’ and would ‘do things only to be in the public eye’. Coleen also said she ‘wasn’t surprised’ by Rebekah’s behaviours.
![Acid tongue: It comes after Rebekah Vardy blasted Coleen and Wayne's marriage, slamming Wayne for straying during his relationship with Coleen (Rebekah pictured in May last year)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/58128987-12613699-Acid_tongue_It_comes_after_Rebekah_Vardy_blasted_Coleen_and_Wayn-a-45_1696926551881.jpg)
Acid tongue: It comes after Rebekah Vardy blasted Coleen and Wayne’s marriage, slamming Wayne for straying during his relationship with Coleen (Rebekah pictured in May last year)
![Couple: WAG Coleen married former footballer Wayne in 2008 and their union has been at the centre of many scandals since, including Wayne being involved with other women](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/10/09/76043987-12613699-Couple_WAG_Coleen_married_former_footballer_Wayne_in_2008_and_th-a-46_1696926560930.jpg)
Couple: WAG Coleen married former footballer Wayne in 2008 and their union has been at the centre of many scandals since, including Wayne being involved with other women
On her strategy for the court case, ahead of a tell-all Disney+ documentary, Coleen also revealed her husband Wayne told her to ‘just tell the truth, because no one can go wrong with the truth.’
She added: ‘If you lie, you get nervous and get caught.’
Between September 2017 and October 2019 The Sun ran 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.
But on October 9, 2019, Coleen shared a jaw-dropping Instagram post revealing she had been sharing false stories and limiting the viewers to just one person to see if they ended up in the newspaper. The goal was to uncover the leak.
The iconic end line read: ‘It’s ……. Rebekah Vardy’s account’. The public dispute makes headlines around the world, with the hashtag #WagathaChristie trending.
Of the reveal, Coleen said Wayne had tried to convince her not to post it and instead ‘just get rid of your Instagram’.
‘No that’s not the point,’ she said – adding she then went on to conduct her sting operation herself.
Coleen explained that Wayne is ‘not a big social media person’ and says that ‘keeping things to myself’ is one of her ‘coping mechanisms’.
She acknowledged that people may question why she wouldn’t share everything with her husband, but argued that it is ‘my battle’.
‘What am I going to get out of telling him?,’ she told the newspaper. ‘There’s nothing he can do. I’ve got to do this by myself.’
Rebekah was said to have scored one of the worst own goals in British legal history after a High Court judge dismissed her evidence as ‘evasive or implausible’ and accused her of deliberately deleting WhatsApp messages central to the case.
Of finding out she had won the case, Coleen said it ‘took a while to sink’ but said that once she realised ‘it gone done’ that she felt a ‘nice feeling’.
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story aires on Disney+ on Wednesday, October 18
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