Wayne Rooney to be quizzed in court during wife Coleen’s ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial against Rebekah Vardy
WAYNE Rooney will be called to give evidence at his wife Coleen’s 'Wagatha Christie' libel trial with Rebekah Vardy, it emerged today.
The England and Manchester United legend, 36, is among eight witnesses due to appear and be quizzed at next month’s long-awaited showdown.
Mum-of-four Coleen, 36, will also give evidence to the High Court as the bitter fallout between her and Becky, 38, reaches fever pitch on May 9.
Wayne, England’s record goalscorer and current Derby County boss, has already submitted a witness statement to the court ahead of the seven-day trial.
He will take the stand before being grilled by lawyers for mum-of-five Becky, who is married to ex-England and Leicester City striker Jamie, 35.
They are expected to quiz him over how much he knew of Coleen’s clandestine investigation into leaks about her private life to the Press.
READ MORE ON WAGS
She planted a series of fake stories on her private social media accounts over several months to root out the culprit before unmasking Becky.
Coleen has previously insisted no one knew about her secret plot to unmask the mole in her camp - not even hubby Wayne.
Wayne’s cousin, Claire Rooney, his agent Paul Stretford and confidante Mark Whittle are also expected to be called to give evidence on behalf of Coleen.
The others include Rooney's spokesman Ian Monk, his daughter Rachel Monk as well as Coleen’s trusted brother Joe McLoughlin and Penelope Adaarewa.
Most read in The Sun
Coleen accused Becky of leaking stories in her now-infamous Wagatha Christie post in October 2019.
She told her millions of followers how someone she trusted had betrayed her and was leaking stories to the media via her private Instagram account.
Her post ended with: "It's.......... Rebekah Vardy's account."
Fuming Becky labelled her a "C***" for accusing her and vowed: "Jesus Christ I hope she’s fucking happy now.
"I can’t just sit back and let her get away with this."
She denies leaking the stories and is suing Coleen for libel.
ROO-DUNNIT
She says she was pushed to the brink of suicide amid the frenzied fallout that followed.
She was subjected to vile abuse online and targeted by footie fans who labelled her a “grass” and a “snake”.
The warring WAGs have previously met for mediation but failed to reach an agreement.
Coleen is keen to avoid court and branded the legal costs involved - estimated to be in excess of £1.5million - as “grotesque”.
Her most recent settlement offer would have seen both her and Becky each making "a substantial donation" to charity.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
They would also commit to paying their own costs, a move known in legal circles as a 'drop hands' settlement.
And they would "agree to disagree" on the central claims made by Coleen in her social media post.