Coleen kept Wayne in the dark about Rebekah Vardy 'sting operation', Wagatha trial hears
16 May 2022, 14:10
Coleen Rooney kept her Rebekah Vardy "sting operation" from husband Wayne as she didn't want to put her "troubles and worries" on others, the Wagatha Christie trial has heard.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Mrs Rooney told the court on day five of the libel battle between the two footballers' wives it was "quite hard" to keep her so-called sting operation of posting fake stories on social media from others.
"If I wanted to find out who was doing it to me I had to keep it to myself," she told jurors at the High Court.
Asked why she did not tell her husband during questioning from Hugh Tomlinson QC, Mrs Vardy's solicitor, Mrs Rooney replied: "One thing I don't do is put my troubles or my worries on anyone else.
"I didn't like to put pressure on anyone."
Mr Tomlinson earlier suggested it would have been easier for Mrs Rooney to delete Rebekah Vardy from her Instagram.
"Maybe, but I didn't," she replied.
Follow our live coverage of the trial here
Read more: Minister quips 'I need a coffee' as she flounders over changes to stop and search powers
Mrs Rooney's cross-examination resumed on Monday after Mrs Vardy broke down numerous times in the witness box last week.
Mrs Rooney has accused Mrs Vardy - the wife of Leicester City football player Jamie Vardy - of leaking "false stories" about her private life in October 2019 after carrying out a months-long "sting operation".
Mrs Vardy denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her for libel, while Mrs Rooney is defending the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".
Mrs Rooney publicly claimed that an account behind three fake stories in The Sun that she had posted on her personal Instagram account were leaked by Mrs Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt.
The fake stories planted on her Instagram during the sting operation featured her travelling to Mexico for a "gender selection" procedure, her planning to return to TV, and the basement flooding at her home.
Read more: UK will have 'necessity to act' over NI Brexit deal if EU doesn't compromise, warns Boris
In the post on social media, Mrs Rooney wrote: "I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. "It's .......... Rebekah Vardy's account."
Mrs Rooney told the court on Monday the fallout from her 'Wagatha Christie' social media post was "way bigger than I ever thought or what I intended to do".
She acknowledged that it was possible other people could have had access to Mrs Vardy's Instagram account and were leaking information without her knowledge.
"It's a possibility, but I didn't think it was," she said.
She was also questioned over why she did not approach Mrs Vardy before making the post.
She told the court she felt Mrs Vardy had "relationships with the press", adding that she thought if she had approached her "she might twist it and she might say it wasn't her, cover it up somehow".
Mrs Rooney will finish her cross examination with Mr Tomlinson on Monday before being asked questions by her barrister, David Sherborne.
Her questioning is expected to be followed by evidence from her brother Joe McLoughlin and football agent Paul Stretford.
Last week, Mrs Vardy was extensively questioned by Mrs Rooney's barrister David Sherborne, who accused her of lying and displaying "selective amnesia" over her version of events – something she denies.
She spent around 10 hours being cross examined in the witness box.
She was quizzed about a photo taken during the 2018 World Cup of her with other footballers' wives and girlfriends - a photo she is accused of secretly engineering for the press.
Pointing out that Mrs Vardy's witness statements were repeatedly revised ahead of the libel trial, Mr Sherborne said: "The reason you have not got your story straight is because you were lying."
Mrs Vardy denied the claim.
The trial continues
