Footballers Wives star Laila Rouass calls Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy ‘lightweights’ after Wagatha Christie feud
FOOTBALLERS’ Wives star Laila Rouass has branded Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney “lightweights” when it comes to their infamous Wagatha Christie row.
The actress joked that the warring Wags would have ripped each other to bits if their feud was a plot line in the iconic Noughties drama.
Laila, 50, played feisty Amber Gates in the cult TV show, which is enjoying a resurgence on streaming service Britbox.
She said: “If it was Footballers’ Wives they’d have had it out in the players’ lounge, none of this court business, they would have ripped each other’s t*ts off, ripped each other’s hair extensions out and moved on.
“They would have dealt with it that way. I think Coleen and Rebekah are lightweights, to be honest.”
Coleen and Rebekah — wives of Derby manager Wayne Rooney and Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy — have so far spent around £1.4million in legal fees as they battle out their feud in court.
The spat erupted after Coleen, 35, claimed Rebakah, 39, was leaking stories about her from her private Instagram account in 2019.
The online meltdown that followed could have come straight out of Footballers’ Wives — with Rebekah firing back an angry denial minutes later.
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It sparked countless social media memes, with stunned fans mocking the clash as the drama played out.
Footballers’ Wives featured countless over-the-top storylines, including Tanya Turner’s baby being smothered to death by Amber’s dog and Frank Laslett dying while having sex with Tanya.
Despite sparking a spin-off show, Footballers’ Wives: Extra Time, the racy ITV drama was axed in 2006 after five series.
Reminiscing on the crazy programme, Laila, who has been engaged to snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan, 45, since 2013, said: “It was one of the best times ever. We were so lucky to be part of that.
“At the time people were like, ‘This is ridiculous’, and honestly, there were times we’d get the scripts and say, ‘This is crazy, we can’t do this’.
“Then we were about to start filming and a story would come out where a footballer has done exactly the thing we thought was over the top, and we’d think, ‘What do we do now?’.
“It looks like we’re copying, it was crazy.
“It was shot in the summer, on location, with amazing clothes and great make-up.
“I’d never been in a make-up chair for two hours but you had to do it, it was about the look.
“Usually it’s half an hour if you’re lucky.”
Of its renewed popularity on Britbox, Laila said: “It’s so great to see everybody enjoying it again and hopefully it will attract a new crowd of people who haven’t seen it before.
"We covered everything, like homosexuality within football, which now we talk about in sport. Not so much in football, but people are coming out and it’s wonderful.
“And I also recall people saying to me, ‘How many gay footballers are out there? This is over the top’. And I said, ‘Are you serious? Are you crazy?’.
“A lot of people were young and discovering their sexuality or they enjoyed the glamour in our show, there was something for everyone.”
Away from Footballers’ Wives, Laila has been working on wellness brand Whole And Then Some, for which she does regular workshops.
She is also well known for playing surgeon Sahira Shah on telly hospital drama Holby City.
She left the the BBC series in 2012, but fans were delighted to see her return for a three-month stint, which ended in January this year.
Then in June it was announced that the drama was being axed after 23 years on our screens, with its last episode set to air in March next year.
Admitting she was stunned by the bosses’ decision to pull the plug, Laila said: “Holby has some phenomenal actors and it’s so well written, it’s such a shock.
“I just don’t understand why it’s coming off air. Honestly, I’m baffled. Not many people saw it coming. There’s a lot of people going to be out of work. It’s just a fantastic show.
“That option of going back and delving more into my character is not going to be there, which is a shame, because I love Sahira. She’s amazing.”
And she has a script idea: “I could go back and have an affair with somebody.
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“Dawn Steele’s character — I’d like to have an affair with Ange Godard.
“Sahira and Ange Godard are going to be getting it on by the end of this year!”
