Rebekah Vardy insisted she never leaked Coleen stories and dismissed messages as ‘jokes’ & ‘gossip’
TEARFUL Rebekah Vardy yesterday insisted she had never leaked stories to the Press and dismissed messages to pals as “jokes” and “gossip”. She welled up as she recounted how online trolls had threatened to hurt her family following “Wagatha Christie” accusations by her rival Coleen Rooney. In a tough courtroom grilling, mum-of-five Rebekah, 40 — […]
TEARFUL Rebekah Vardy yesterday insisted she had never leaked stories to the Press and dismissed messages to pals as “jokes” and “gossip”.
She welled up as she recounted how online trolls had threatened to hurt her family following “Wagatha Christie” accusations by her rival Coleen Rooney.
In a tough courtroom grilling, mum-of-five Rebekah, 40 — wife of Leicester City striker Jamie, 35 — was also accused of being prepared to lie on oath.
Private WhatsApps between her and agent Caroline Watt, 40, were admitted into evidence on the second day of the libel battle.
They appeared to show the pair plotted to betray then-Leicester players Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater.
They also discussed tipping off the Press about a love triangle involving a married female TV star and a footballer.
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They even toyed with the idea of leaking a story about a married England ace, known only as Mr X, who fathered a secret lovechild with his mistress.
But Rebekah told London’s High Court that she had been “joking” and “just gossiping”.
Later she dabbed her eyes with a tissue when asked about the trolls.
But she refused a break, telling the court: “I don’t think it’s going to help, to be honest.”
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Rebekah — in a £1,800 Prada dress and £1,245 Alexander McQueen blazer — admitted she had tried to talk to journalists about Drinkwater’s drink-drive arrest in April 2019 because she was “appalled” by his behaviour.
She wrote to Miss Watt: “Story…. Drinkwater arrested x”
Miss Watt replied: “For what?”
Rebekah: “Crashed his car drunk with 2 girls in it…. both in hospital one with broken ribs x”
Miss Watt: “F***. When?”
Rebekah: “He’s only just been let out of the cells. Last night! He’s in big big trouble x”
She then wrote: “I want paying for this x”.
Rebekah dismissed the “want paying” as a “fleeting comment” and said it was “something I probably considered at the time but that was it”.
She told the court: “I’m deeply affected by drink-driving — my ex-husband killed two people whilst drink-driving. I can only apologise.
‘PREPARED TO LIE UNDER OATH’
“The messages are not good but it was something that affected me. The initial reaction of seeing something like that affected me badly in the past.
“I realise how badly they read and again I apologise but again these are private conversations between two people that know each other’s humour.”
Asked by David Sherborne, for Coleen, if she intended to leak the Drinkwater arrest, she replied: “Absolutely, yes.”
He then took her to her witness statement which read: “I have sometimes been caught up in the heat of the moment during conversations with Caroline where I have talked about ‘leaks’ and payment.
“But these conversations were never serious, and Caroline would have understood that.
“I have never been paid for private information about anybody apart from myself or family.”
Mr Sherborne asked Mrs Vardy if she still stood by it — to which she replied: “Yes, apart from the Danny Drinkwater one.”
He replied: “So, there’s an exception.”
The barrister warned her of the consequences of lying in court and said: “I put it to you that when you say in that witness statement that these conversations were never serious and Caroline would have understood that, that’s completely untrue isn’t it?
“What this shows, Mrs Vardy, is you are prepared to lie under oath.”
‘DIRTY WORK’
She replied firmly: “No.”
She also denied leaking a story about Mahrez going on strike over a blocked transfer.
But further messages appeared to reveal she told Miss Watt: “Just don’t want it coming back on me x.”
Rebekah said she was “joking” but conceded she was happy for Miss Watt “to do her dirty work”.
Coleen, in a £33 Zara dress and with her foot in a boot after a fall at home, glared at her rival while her hubby, ex-England skipper Wayne, 36, could not bear to look at her.
Rebekah also admitted calling fellow wag Danielle Lloyd “a nasty bitch” and branding Coleen a “d***” and “attention-seeker.
She later dismissed claims she deliberately sat behind Coleen at a Euro 2016match in a bid to boost her public image as “ridiculous”.
And she denied telling an FA representative to “f*** off” when told she was sitting in the wrong seats.
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Rebekah is suing Coleen and seeking substantial aggravated damages.
Trial continues.
