Coleen Rooney has admitted the Wagatha Christie ordeal broke her and left her feeling absent from family life.
On Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast, Coleen called it “the worst time of my life”.
She said grief and relationship problems had offered more control than the public legal dispute. The years-long row consumed her thoughts, even while she remained physically beside those closest to her.
Coleen Rooney reveals her family regret
The biggest cost, Coleen said, was losing precious presence with her family. She was there physically, yet her attention remained fixed on the court case.
“That was the biggest thing I felt so guilty about was not being present,” she said.
She also told Paul: “This broke me as a person. It stripped my personality.”
That emotional impact extended beyond home. Friends had worried Coleen might suspect them of sharing stories, she explained.
After her 2019 Instagram post, some told her they had privately feared losing her trust. Coleen said the number of people carrying that concern made her sad.
She believed some had distanced themselves to avoid hearing anything she might later think they had shared. “I did what I did and I got to know all that what people was feeling around that time. But it was a horrible situation to be in, and it totally stripped me of my personality,” she said.
Her central concern was privacy, not the sensitivity of each individual story. “I’ve got a right to have some privacy,” she said.
Coleen added that the experience made her wary after allowing somebody into her circle.
How the Wagatha Christie case unfolded
In October 2019, Coleen accused Rebekah Vardy’s Instagram account of passing false stories about her private life to the press.Rebekah denied the allegation and suggested her account may have been hacked. She later launched a High Court libel action against Coleen.
The case concluded in Coleen’s favour in 2022. Rebekah was left liable for £1.5 million towards Coleen’s legal costs.
Coleen also rejected suggestions that she and Rebekah had once been close friends. Their connection came through husbands Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy, who had played for England together.
“We didn’t socialise. We were acquaintances because we were both married to partners who’d played for England together. But, you know, the thing is, in the first place, why was she in that group?… We were brought together because of our husbands’ jobs, but we never had a friendship,” she said.
Where Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy stand now
Coleen went on to say that she was hoping the matter could have been dealt with privately. “I did not want to go to court,” she said.
“I was thinking that it’s the worst place that you could put me because I am then the centre of attention and you know, I don’t want to be there but then I’ve got the whole world looking on,” she then added.
Coleen said she has not heard from Rebekah since the trial ended. Her account shows how long the personal consequences have lasted.
Her clearest regret centres on the time and attention the case took away from family life.
Rebekah, meanwhile, maintained her denial in an ITV reality series released in June. “I’m never going to apologise for something I didn’t do. Hell will freeze over before I do that. I’m living with the judgment the judge made but, still to this day, I believe she was wrong,” she said.
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