The Wagatha Christie case has been making headlines for almost three years after Coleen Rooney sensationally claimed Rebekah Vardy had been leaking false stories about her life after she suspected someone close to her had been betraying her for years.
Vehemently denying the allegations, Rebekah sued Coleen for libel but lost her case.
In the ruling that took place on July 29, Mrs Justice Steyn said it was “likely” that Mrs Vardy’s agent at the time, Caroline Watt, “undertook the direct act” of passing the information to The Sun.
But she added: “Nonetheless, the evidence … clearly shows, in my view, that Mrs Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Mrs Rooney’s posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt."
The judge added: “In my judgment, the conclusions that I have reached as to the extent to which the claimant engaged in disclosing to The Sun information to which she only had access as a permitted follower of an Instagram account which she knew, and Mrs Rooney repeatedly asserted, was private, suffice to show the single meaning is substantially true.”
But just how did the two women become at war against one another?
Let's take a look at their friendship before the famously dubbed 'Wagatha Christie' fallout to see how their bright spark quickly burnt out and caused them to become bitter rivals.
How did the WAGs meet?
The glamorous pair have been pictured watching husbands Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy playing football for several years.
Coleen and Rebekah were famously pictured sitting side by side during the England v Wales game at the Euro 2016 championships. Both women wore large sunglasses while deep in conversation.
But less than three years later, an explosive rift was formed between the pair the world did not see coming.
What caused their feud?
Coleen, 36, sent shockwaves across social media when she published a Twitter post alleging that Rebekah, 40, had been sharing posts from her private Instagram account to The Sun newspaper in October 2019.
In a tweet, Coleen wrote: “This has been a burden in my life for a few years now and finally I have got to the bottom of it……”
She then added a screenshot of a note with full details of her allegation.
Coleen wrote in her 2019 Twitter post that Rebekah was someone she “trusted”.
“For a few years now someone who I have trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The Sun newspaper of my private posts and stories,” she said.
“There has been so much information given to them about me, my friends and my family – all without my permission or knowledge. After a long time of trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons, I had a suspicion.
“To try and prove this, I cam up with an idea. I blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account. (Those on my private account must have been wondering why I haven’t had stories on there for a while.)
“Over the past five months I have posted a series of false stories to see if the made their way into the Sun newspaper. And you know what, they did! The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV and then the latest story about the basement flooding in my new house.
“It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain with account / individual it’s come from.
“I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them.
“It’s ……….Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
The great fallout
It's reported that Coleen’s accusation caused Rebekah to burst into tears while on holiday in Dubai. However, she quickly hit back on social media and denied the claims.
In a lengthy Twitter post, the then heavily pregnant Rebekah wrote: "If you thought this was happening you could have told me and I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped.
"Over the years various people have had access to my insta & just this week I found I was following people I didn’t know and have never followed myself.
"I’m not being funny but I don’t need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you?
"I like you a lot Coleen & I’m so upset that you have chosen to do this, especially when I’m heavily pregnant. I’m disgusted that I’m even having to deny this. You should have called me the first time this happened."
She then hit out at Coleen for publicly shaming her instead of discussing her theories directly – saying in an interview with The Sun: “Why didn’t she pick up the phone? I have been so upset by it – and I’m heavily pregnant too.
"Now I’m getting death threats saying I should die and my unborn child should die. That’s why I’m determined to get to the bottom of what has gone on and clear my name.”
Legal action
After Coleen made her accusation public, Rebekah decided to take legal action – launching a libel case against her.
The cost of the court action is expected to hit over £1 million in legal costs – as both ladies appeared determined to prove the other is in the wrong.
Matrix chambers summed up the result of the preliminary hearing, which was concluded in November 2020.
They said: "The tweet and post complained of clearly suggest that the claimant is the person who is guilty of the wrongdoing and not the people in control of the claimant’s account.
"Absent the word 'account' from the social media posts, the defendant’s position would be unarguable. Furthermore, the use of multiple dots followed by the word 'account' does not 'dilute' the meaning.
"Indeed, the element of suspense introduced by the multiple dots seems designed to raise expectations of a dramatic revelation. It would be a poor denouement if all that was being said was that the named individual was to be suspected of the wrongdoing, but it might be someone else."
Are their husband's friends?
Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy have also been subject to a feud where Wayne ‘warned’ Jamie about Rebekah.
In 2016 The Times reported that Rooney had spoken to Vardy over fears the social media prominence of the Leicester striker’s wife, Rebekah, could cause an unwanted distraction.
The story was quickly dismissed by England coach at the time, Roy Hodgson, who told Manchester Evening News: “There are absolutely no problems in football terms between Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy.
“In fact quite the reverse, they are very close friends, both on the field and off the field. "I certainly would advise Wayne to give no comment to it because it is obviously one salacious story that someone has managed to spin. It is of no interest to us."
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