How brave Rebekah Vardy overcame tragic childhood which saw her sexually abused at 12 and left suicidal & homeless
SHE'S got the perfect marriage to an £80k-a-week footballer, a £1.5million farmhouse and five beautiful kids - but life hasn't always been so rosy for Rebekah Vardy.
Yesterday, on daughter Megan's 15th birthday, the 38-year-old WAG posted a moving message saying she had been forced to grow up too soon after being abused as a child and made homeless at 15.
Saying she's glad Megan is "still a child" she told fans: "By the time I was 15 I wasn’t a child anymore and the year that I turned 15 was the year that my life really started to spiral out of control.
"From the age of 12 I had been being sexually abused in my own home by someone I had trusted.
"I had already taken an overdose of pills and vodka in an attempt to end the awful feelings of shame, fear and anger that I couldn’t find another way to escape from. I already hated myself."
Made homeless at 15, after her relationship with her mum broke down, the former party planner got into a series of disastrous relationships before meeting Jamie, who she wed in 2016.
But Becky's tragic childhood made her more determined to provide a loving stable home for her five children - Megan, 15 and Taylor, ten, from previous relationships and Sofia, six, Finlay, three, and four-month-old Olivia with Jamie.
Here's how the brave WAG has battled to overcome obstacles including sexual abuse, depression and bitter family feuds.
Rift with mum over sexual assault claims
Devoted mum Becky has a fractured relationship with her own mum, rooted in her tough teenage years.
Her parents – John and Alison – divorced when she was 11 and she moved from city to city, living in Norwich, Reading and Oxford as both moved on to new relationships.
At 12, she was sexually assaulted by a family friend who abused her, in her own home, on a weekly basis for three years.
She has since said that her mum “didn’t believe” her when she revealed the abuse, leading to the rift.
“I was made to feel like it was my fault, it's one of those things that you don’t discuss,” she told Loose Women in 2017.
She added that she was forced to confront her past abuse after having second child Taylor in 2010.
“I suffered post-natal depression with Taylor and I didn't even want to leave the house,” she says. “The doctor persuaded me that I needed medication and to go to therapy.”
Suicidal at 15 over 'shame' of abuse and homeless at 16
In the aftermath of the abuse Becky rebelled and was constantly in trouble at school for fighting and drinking.
At 15, she attempted to take her own life because she just “wanted to escape” and shortly after, as the relationship with her mum and stepdad Ian broke down, she was forced to leave the family home in Witney, Oxfordshire.
"I was made homeless and ended up sleeping on sofas and collecting glasses in a pub to make enough money to allow me to rent a room in a B&B to live in," she says in yesterday's post. "I was 15 and should still have been a child."
At 17, she met electrical engineer Mark Godden.
The couple tied the knot in a £7,000 wedding on a beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in autumn 2001.
Mark has since claimed that the engagement only came about because she spotted a £500 ring in a magazine and told him, “I want that. Buy it for me!”
One night affair with Peter Andre
Their union fell apart after six months when Becky - who was unhappy in her marriage - slept with singer Peter Andre, who she met through her work at a promotions company.
She later revealed: “I told him I was married. I wanted to be honest and I knew my marriage was coming to an end.”
She added: “I thought he was going to be a fantastic lover. Then he took his trousers off! It wasn’t worth the train fare.”
Bitter split from ex who accused her of 'upgrading'
Soon after splitting from Mark, Becky fell pregnant with Megan, although she has never publicly named the father.
A six-year relationship with Oxford United player Luke Foster followed and the couple share Taylor, now nine.
But the romance ended acrimoniously, with Luke claiming Becky had only dumped him after meeting premiership player Jamie. She has always denied that the relationships overlapped.
In a bitter interview after their split, Luke told the Mail that he showered her with expensive gifts, took out an “extortionate mortgage” on their Nottinghamshire home and lent her his Mercedes but nothing was good enough.
“Becky liked the finer things in life. She wanted the biggest house on the street, expensive handbags," he said.
“She’s now got the husband she always wanted, one who can keep her in the lifestyle she’s dreamt of.
"Becky upgraded. She said that to my face. She said he’d treat her a hell of a lot better."
Rebekah has always dismissed these claims as "completely untrue".
Love for Jamie ends 'horrific choices with men'
Becky met Jamie, five years her junior, when he hired her to plan his birthday party in the Viper Rooms nightclub in Sheffield.
"When we first met, I made Jamie chase me for months before I agreed to go out with him,” Becky told Hello later.
“One of the reasons for that was that, as a mother, I didn't want to introduce anyone to my kids who might then disappear.”
She later said that Jamie ended a run of bad luck with men.
“I've made some horrific choices with men, I get blackmailed and harassed by certain people,” she revealed. “I'm still dealing with it now.
“Jamie is so supportive, he likes that I'm able to stand on my own two feet. Up until him I didn't trust anyone.”
After Wayne Rooney and Jamie started playing for England together in 2015, Becky became a member of the WAG elite, enjoying nights out with Coleen Rooney and mutual pal Dawn Ward as well as model and reality star Nicola McLean.
Wedding heartache over family feuds
When Becky met Jamie – who earns £80,000 a week – he was already dad to Ella, now nine, by ex Emma Daggett.
The next addition to the family – daughter Sofia, arrived in 2015 and a year later the couple tied the knot at Cheshire’s swish Peckforton Castle.
Becky – who wore a Caroline Castigliano gown – finally had her dream wedding, with stars including Louis Tomlinson and Tinchy Stryder there watching her walk down the aisle.
But the day was tinged with heartbreak for the couple as Jamie’s daughter Ellie, who the couple wanted as flower girl, was banned from attending by her mum.
And family feuds meant that neither Jamie’s parents or Becky’s mum and stepdad attended the nuptials.
The groom’s family blamed Becky for causing the rift and mum Lisa said: “I don't have anything directly to do with my son any more. It's a shame and very sad.”
£1.5 m farmhouse and £14k-a-night hotels
Since the wedding, the couple have settled down to a happy family life.
It wasn't long before they moved into a sprawling eight-bedroom farmhouse in the Lincolnshire countryside, worth £3million.
Set in four acres of land, the property boasts an indoor pool, sauna, tennis court, gym, five bathrooms and five reception rooms.
The family often enjoy holidays in Dubai and in the last 12 months she has stayed at the Atlantis, where a suite costs £1,800 and the Four Seasons, with suites up to £14,000 a night.
Devastated by 'Wagatha Christie' Coleen spat
Rebekah's happiness seemed complete when she announced she was pregnant with her fifth child, in 2019.
But soon after, she hit a bump in the road when Coleen Rooney posted her infamous Wagatha Christie post, blaming her former friend for a series of articles in the media.
The controversial Instagram message claimed she had slowly eliminated friends from her account to track down the culprit, ending "..... It's Rebekah Vardy".
After Coleen's damning post Becky, who was on holiday in Dubai at the time, called her in tears to deny she had sold stories on the Rooneys, but her former friend refused to listen.
Becky condemned the public way that Coleen raised the issue - and says she is suffering a huge backlash.
“Why didn’t she pick up the phone? I have been so upset by it – and I’m heavily pregnant too," she says.
"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.”
The row also split the close-knit WAG community.
Danielle Lloyd used emojis to brand her a rat but close pal Nicola leapt to her defence, saying: "What she’s going through is what nobody should have to go through so publicly."
Wounded Becky and Coleen could now be heading to court after an attempt at legal arbitration failed last week.
Now a mum of five - after welcoming baby Olivia in December - Rebekah will draw on the strength she has shown in her most recent post to get over her latest batch of troubles.
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In 2018, Becky posted a message about overcoming adversity on her Instagram, signing off with: "To anyone who is having a hard time for whatever reason, things do change, it will take time but it will get better."
And in yesterday's post, she expressed her pride that she had managed to overcome her past to create a safe home for her family.
";Seeing Megs turn 15 and knowing that she is fortunate enough to feel safe, loved and content makes me feel very happy and extremely lucky," she wrote.
