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REBEKAH Vardy today joins The Sun as our I’m A Celebrity columnist — and reignites her famous feud with her former pal, jungle contestant Coleen Rooney.
On October 9, 2019, Coleen posted an incendiary tweet accusing her friend-turned-foe Rebekah of being a “leak” behind media stories.
Five years on, there remains no love lost between the pair — with Coleen’s decision to appear on the ITV jungle show bringing their clash to the fore once again.
Today, the 42-year-old wife of Leicester City striker Jamie tells me she is looking forward to watching Coleen chomp down on some jungle nasties.
Asked if there is anything particular, such as bull’s privates, ostrich bum or goat’s brains, Becky deadpans: “Yeah, penis. Or humble pie.”
And would, say, a camel testicle be the worst thing Coleen’s ever had in her mouth? “I don’t know. You have to look at her husband for that one,” she replies.
On the night of our interview, Becky and Jamie jetted off to Dubai for a break. But she will be tuning in via her laptop to see Sunday night’s first episode.
She laughs: “Absolutely, we’ll be watching avidly. Everyone seems to think I have this massive problem with Coleen going into the jungle.
“But do you know what? If you want to fan the fire, the flames are going to get higher.
"I wasn’t going to carry on talking about this, I had no intention of talking about it, but she clearly can’t let it go.
“I mean, we’ve done a book, we’ve done a documentary, we’re going into the jungle. What’s next — Dancing On Ice?
“She’s following in my footsteps. I think she always wanted my life.”
Becky was on the ITV ice skating show back in 2021.
And during her own stint on I’m A Celeb in 2017, she did trials including the Bushtucker eating challenge, which saw her feasting on sheep anus, fermented egg, emu foot, vomit fruit and a bull’s penis.
Presumably, she will be calling the ITV hotline on repeat, praying poor Coleen will be forced to eat similar nasties.
Becky quips: “If it’s going to cost me any more money to see her do a trial, absolutely not.
“I’ll only be registering to vote on the free ones, thanks very much.”
One hundred per cent, I’d say yes if they asked me. Get me on the plane now.
Rebekah Vardy
When I mention that Coleen came across as very likeable, kind and relatable in her pre-show piece to camera, Becky shrugs.
Poking the bear, I add ex-England star Wayne’s long-suffering wife is also bookies’ favourite to win. It works. Off she goes again.
“Fine, if people want to go and celebrate Coleen as some sort of hero, then they need to remember the abuse I suffered off the back of something that wasn’t for public consumption,” Becky retorts.
“It wasn’t in the public’s interest to do that (the tweet). I just wish she’d have just turned up at my doorstep, or picked the phone up and had that conversation with me, woman to woman.
“But she wanted to do it publicly. So if she wants to go on about the stress induced arthritis, she’s only got herself to blame — she shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
And is Coleen as sweet as she seems? Not according to the woman who’s become so intrinsically linked with her over the past few years.
“Everything Coleen does is quite calculated,” she says. “I don’t say this to be nasty, I say this because it’s an opinion of mine. She likes to be the victim.
“She’s been in this industry for a long time, she knows what she’s doing, she knows how to play the game. I think she’ll go into the jungle with a game plan.
“She knows how the public will perceive her. I think the public see her as a victim — a hard-working woman that’s endured a lot through a man’s infidelities and all of the stuff that he’s put her through.”
Her legal team stood up in court and said, ‘She’s such a private individual’, and now this so-called private individual is going on one of the biggest reality TV shows in the UK. I mean, it’s ironic really.
Rebekah Vardy
On the subject of Wayne — who trudged into the High Court daily to be by his wife’s side — Becky doesn’t hold back. “The best bit to come from Wayne’s evidence was him being likened to a ‘hot potato’.
“I wonder if you cut him open, if he’s all cheese and beans — because he’s defo full of s***!”
Sitting across from me, Becky is clearly incredulous about her rival’s decision to sign up for the jungle.
It comes after Coleen’s defence team tore strips off Becky for her career choices during their much publicised High Court libel row over that tweet.
Every day, Rebekah will be sharing her thoughts on the I’m A Celebrity camp with The Sun readers in an exclusive video diary and column.
She’ll be telling stories from her time in the jungle, sharing her completely unfiltered thoughts on the cast and nominating a villain every morning after the show.
From her take on Coleen Rooney’s Bushtucker Trials to what she thinks of stars who swerve the stomach-churning challenges, Rebekah’s column will be unmissable - and only available on mcb777.site.
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Becky said: “Coleen’s legal team were very dismissive about my reality TV past. They mocked it.
“So for her to be doing the jungle now, it’s hypocrisy at its finest, isn’t it? I think there was always a plan for reinvention. She stayed out of the public eye for so long.
“There were so many stories, negative stories, about Wayne. And I think she wanted to turn things around for herself.
“We’ve gone from a person about whom her legal team stood up in court and said, ‘She’s such a private individual’, and now this so-called private individual is going on one of the biggest reality TV shows in the UK. I mean, it’s ironic really.”
Five years ago, Coleen posted a long rant on social media accusing Becky of leaking stories to The Sun — something Becky always denied.
The resulting “Wagatha Christie” defamation case — brought by Becky — lasted for two-and-a-half months, with a judge deciding Coleen’s defence was “substantially true”.
Three years on, Becky remains defiant and says: “After the court gave the judgement, I put out a statement that the judge got it wrong — and I stand by that. The judge did get it wrong, and I didn’t do what Coleen accused me of.”
Becky insists there are no “hard feelings”, but it is clear she is still utterly fuming about the whole episode.
Or, more precisely, the aftermath — which saw her horrifically trolled while seven months pregnant, and led to her having cognitive behavioural therapy.
For her part, Coleen recently spoke out about the extreme toll the case took on her mentally. She even claimed her reactive arthritis has been triggered by it.
Becky is also seething about a recent podcast featuring Coleen, on which she made a thinly-veiled dig at her former pal.
Coleen said: “Most people can’t be happy in their own lives because they are attacking other people’s lives. I couldn’t imagine doing that to anyone. You’ve got to be a nasty piece of work.”
Becky’s take? “I just find it ironic you can sit there and say that, knowing what you’ve put someone through. The truth of the matter is, she did do that. She did exactly what she was talking about.
"I think there was a deep-rooted unhappiness, a lot of misdirected anger, with what was going on with Wayne at the time. And, you know, unfortunately for me, I was in the crossfire of that.”
On her own marriage, she said: “Everyone thinks Jamie is mad at me for speaking out, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“He’s encouraging me, saying, ‘Give it to her, get the truth out there’.
"He loves it that she’s back getting headlines. The more stick he gets from the stands in football, the better he plays.”
And on the future, Becky said: “Let bygones be bygones. You can’t hold grudges forever.
"Two years ago, I suggested we meet for a coffee at Caffè Nero — and that offer still stands. Perhaps now it might need to be over a lot of wine, though.
“But if people really want us to meet up before that, then ITV should get me in that jungle as a special guest.
"What are they scared of? Confrontation? But isn’t that what the show’s all about? It’s about viewing figures.
“One hundred per cent, I’d say yes if they asked me. Get me on the plane now.”
Over to you, ITV.
As the hit ITV show enters into its 24th series, a brand new batch of famous faces look set to enter the Aussie jungle once again to face terrifying Bushtucker Trials and living amongst the critters in camp in order to come out on top and be crowned King or Queen of the Jungle. The Sun's Jake Penkethman takes a look at the stars heading Down Under this year...
