was supported by her footballer husband Jamie today, on the sixth – and penultimate – day of her libel trial against , as Wayne Rooney entered the witness box.
Mrs Vardy is after, in October 2019, Mrs Rooney accused Mrs Vardy to the media, after she said she carried out a months-long ‘sting operation’.
Former England player Mr Rooney, who captained the national team during Euro 2016, had said in a written witness statement that he was ‘pulled to one side by a member of the FA staff’ to speak to Mr Vardy, telling the court today the pair had an ‘awkward’ chat.
The court heard the Derby County manager spoke to Leicester City footballer Mr Vardy about Mrs Vardy’s ‘media activities’ during the Euro 2016 tournament because they were ‘causing problems and distractions’.
In his written statement, Mr Rooney had said Mr Vardy agreed to speak to his wife, and that he was surprised to later learn that details of their private conversation were reported in the Sun.
Mr Rooney told the court that he had been asked to speak to Mr Vardy by manager Roy Hodgson and his then assistant manager Gary Neville, explaining: ‘They asked me, as captain, would I be able to speak to Mr Vardy on issues regarding his wife and I think we all knew that it was an awkward subject.
‘I’d need to speak to Mr Vardy and ask him to speak to his wife and ask him to say to ask his wife to calm down.’
He added: ‘I was asked to speak to Mr Vardy by the England manager and I carried out that instruction.
‘It was an awkward situation for me and I’m sure it was an awkward situation for Mr Vardy, but I felt it was in the best interests of the team.’
Mrs Vardy had previously told the court that her husband denied ever having a conversation with Mr Rooney about her media career causing distractions for the England team, with Mr Rooney saying: ‘I 100% spoke to Mr Vardy about the situation. If he wants to relay that back to his wife, that is entirely his business.’
In a statement issued by Mr Vardy’s representatives outside the hearing, he said: ‘Wayne is talking nonsense.
‘He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky’s media work at Euro 2016.
‘There was nothing to speak about, I know this because I discuss everything with Becky.’
According to , the Vardys sat on the frontbench a metre apart from the Rooneys, and while the two women occasionally glanced sideways at each other, their two husbands largely avoided eye contact.
The court also heard during Euro 2016, Mr Vardy would regularly be in the room talking to his wife, with Mr Rooney saying: ‘Mrs Vardy was almost there with the team, she was on FaceTime a lot.’
Also asked why he didn’t have a word with Mr Vardy about Wagatha, Mr Rooney told the court: ‘Jamie was a teammate on the national team. He’s not someone I’ve ever been particular friends with outside the team on a social level’.
Asking about his wife’s ‘sting operation’, which saw her dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’, Mr Rooney said he had no idea about her actions to find the person behind leaks from her private Instagram account until after she published the post in which she claimed it was Mrs Vardy’s account, in October 2019.
In his witness statement, Mr Rooney had said he ‘didn’t want to get involved’ when his wife became ‘frustrated’ at alleged leaks of her information to The Sun, and asked what he meant by that in court, Mr Rooney replied: ‘I’m not big on social media and I didn’t want to get involved.
‘My wife is an independent woman who does her own thing and I didn’t want to get involved in what the situation was.’
Mr Rooney said that social media was the ‘least’ of his worries amid helping his wife with their four children.
Speaking about the effect the ‘reveal’ post had on Mrs Rooney, Mr Rooney – who insisted the abuse directed at Mrs Vardy was ‘disgusting’ – told the court it had been ‘very traumatic’ for her and that he had watched her ‘really struggle’.
He said: ‘For me and my wife, we don’t want to be in this court. I’ve watched my wife over the last two and a half years really struggle with everything … becoming a different mother, a different wife.’
He said the trial was the first time he’d heard a lot of the evidence in the case.
The footballer told the court: ‘Me sitting here in this court room, this trial is the first time I’m hearing almost everything in this case. It’s been a long week,’ before adding: ‘I’ve never discussed it really with my wife.
‘The abuse Mrs Vardy has received, I think, is disgusting. It’s not right (for) a woman to receive that abuse.
‘But I never really discussed being part of this, I’ve been here to support my wife.’
