Yahoo News Wagatha Christie Trial: What happened when Coleen Rooney and Rebecca Vardy clashed in court
In case you've been hiding under a rock - Wagatha Christie is the term used for the long-running celebrity feud between WAG's Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy.
The celebrity scandal spans over a five year period from the beginning and while its since been diffused, it's set to be hot topic again after Coleen entered the I'm A Celeb jungle.
And it didn't take long for the hugely televised spat to be brought up in conversation. During Sunday nights debut episode of the 2024 series, Radio 1 DJ Dean McCullough couldn't help but refer to her now infamous nickname.
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Wayne Rooney's wife got the nickname Wagatha Christie after her detective work was referred to that of Agatha Christie during the dispute with fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy. It came after Coleen conducted a sting operation back in 2019 to find out who had been leaking stories from her private Instagram account to the press.
Coleen is reportedly this years highest paid celeb and its safe to say viewers will be expecting her to spill all on what really went down with Vardy.
But while we await the gripping campfire chats, we've taken a trip down memory lane to refresh your memory! Here's everything you need to know about what has happened in the Wagatha Christie case so far.
Wagatha Christie Timeline
September 2017 - Coleen makes the headlines: The Sun newspaper runs a number of stories about Coleen including that she took a trip to Mexico to look into baby gender selection treatment, the flooding of her basement and her plans to revive her TV career.
October 2019 - The tweet: Coleen took to Twitter to accuse Rebekah of selling stories from her private Instagram to the press.
Coleen said she spent five months attempting to figure out who was sharing information about her and her family based on posts she had made on her personal social media page.
She shared a series of “false” stories and using a process of elimination, Rooney claims they were viewed by one Instagram account only, that of Rebekah Vardy.
Vardy, who was pregnant with her fifth child at the time, denied the allegations and said various people had access to her Instagram over the years. The scandal quickly picked up traction and the hashtag #WagathaChristie began trending.
February 2020 - Vardy speaks out: Rebekah Vardy appeared on ITV's Loose Women in her first appearance since the accusations, she said the anxiety and stress had caused her to be hospitalised "three times." Coleen responded with a statement saying she "did not want to engage in further public debate."
June 2020 - Vardy launched libel proceedings against Ms Rooney: Rebekah's lawyers claimed she had “suffered extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment as a result of the publication of the post and the events which followed”.
November 2020 - The first High Court: At the first Libel hearing in London a judge ruled that Coleen Rooney’s October 2019 post “clearly identified” Ms Vardy as being “guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust”.
Mr Justice Warby concludes that the “natural and ordinary” meaning of the posts was that Vardy had “regularly and frequently abused her status as a trusted follower of Ms Rooney’s personal Instagram account by secretly informing The Sun of Ms Rooney’s private posts and stories”.
February 2022 - Lost WhatsApp messages: A series of explosive messages between Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt are revealed at a preliminary court hearing, Rooney claims the messages are about her.
In one of the exchanges between the two, Vardy refers to someone as a “nasty b*tch.” Rooney’s lawyers sought further information from the WhatsApp messages, but the court is told that Ms Watt’s phone fell into the North Sea after a boat she was on hit a wave, before any further information could be extracted from it.Rooney is refused permission to bring a High Court claim against Ms Watt for misuse of private information to be heard alongside the libel battle. The judge, Ms Justice Steyn, said the bid was brought too late and previous opportunities to make the claim had not been taken.
April 2022 - Vardy's agent pulls out: The High Court is told Ms Watt is not fit to give oral evidence at the upcoming libel trial.
Vardy's agent also revoked permission for her witness statement to be used, and withdraws her waiver, which would have allowed The Sun journalists to say whether she was a source of the allegedly leaked stories.
Rebekah Vardy “appears to accept” that her agent was the source of allegedly leaked stories, Rooney's lawyer argues that a new witness statement submitted by Ms Vardy suggests Ms Watt was the source but Ms Vardy claims she “did not authorise or condone her”.
May 2022 - Face Off: Vardy and Rooney come face to face in court as the trial of their libel battle takes place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Both women give evidence - revelations from the case make daily headlines across the newspapers.
Evidence is released including pictures from Ms Rooney’s Instagram account and screenshots where Ms Vardy complained to her husband Jamie Vardy that she was being made a “scapegoat” during Euro 2016.
July 2022 - Vardy's claim is dismissed: The judge dismissed the claim, finding Ms Rooney had proved that the meaning of the post was “substantially true”.
October 2022 - Settlement fee: Vardy ordered to pay £1.5 million in costs towards Rooney's legal fees after losing the court case.
May 2024 - Return to court: Two years on from the trial the high profile case returned to the court over some of Vardy's pre-trial costs which Mrs Rooney is set to pay. Her lawyers are challenging part of the bill, which is reported to be around £350,000.
October 2024 - Vardy ordered to pay more: Rebekah was ordered to pay Coleen another £100,000 over their libel battle ahead of the full amount being decided.
November 2024 - Vardy launches appeal: Rebekah launched an appeal bid against the costs in the latest stage of her libel battle with Rooney.
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