Rebekah Vardy returned to the witness box for the second day of her 'Wagatha Christie' High Court case with Coleen Rooney.
Vardy was accused by fellow WAG Coleen of leaking fake stories about her in October 2019. Rooney uploaded several fake stories to her private Instagram account in a bid to find out who was “betraying” her before revealing it on Twitter in her now-infamous Wagatha Christie post.
Vardy, 40, denies the allegations and is suing Rooney, the wife of England star Wayne, for defamation.
READ MORE: 'Devastation' as 'bubbly and lovely' mum found dead in her home
Here are seven things we have learned from day two of the court case:
Rebekah Vardy denies sitting behind Coleen Rooney for publicity at the 2016 Euros
David Sherborne, for Rooney, suggested Vardy and her friends sat behind Rooney and her family during a Euros match in 2016 as she knew this would "boost her public profile".
He said: "You wanted to make the point you were friendly because that's your image - you are the new WAG."
Vardy said she believed the seats had been allocated to her adding: "That's ridiculous. That's not the case at all."
She denied telling Rooney to "f*ck off" when she was asked to move out of the seats, but accepted it was a noisy stadium and a friend may have said it. The court heard that a family liaison officer for the Football Association supports Rooney's claim that the seats were not Vardy's and will be giving evidence at the trial.
Vardy said: "Yes I find it quite interesting because I think it's nonsense. Absolute nonsense. I think she has either got confused or it's what she's been told to say.
"Maybe she has got her wires crossed that she has got the wrong end of the stick. She could have been told to say it by anyone, I don't know."
Vardy arranged "staged pictures" with paparazzi
Vardy told the court she had “never hidden the fact” she had arranged “staged pictures” adding: “In fact, I have owned it.”
Her words came in response to questions from Rooney’s lawyer about whether she had “close relationships” with S*n journalists. The court saw pictures of Vardy leaving hospital after the birth of her fourth child in 2017, which she admitted had been “set up” by her agent Caroline Watt.
Vardy said: “I'm not misleading the public. I had to take some pictures of me coming out of the hospital because I wanted to control it so that no one got a picture of my baby or surprised me. I wanted to make sure it was on my time.”
She admitted to selling other pictures of herself to The S*n exclusively, including shots from a naked pregnancy shoot.
Vardy ‘told her agent’ Riyad Mahrez's Leicester City teammates were 'fuming' he didn't turn up to training
Vardy is said to have messaged her agent that Mahrez, who now plays for Manchester City, had not turned up to training and added: “The lads are fuming”.
Watt is said to have replied: “I can tell someone” to which Vardy responded: “Yeah, do it”.
Mr Sherborne asked Vardy: “She realises how juicy this story is. She says ‘really??’ with two question marks. What's interesting is that the lads are fuming. That's the inside story from the teammates, including your husband.”
An article in The S*n was later published stating that Mahrez’s teammates had “turned on him” which Mr Sherborne said no other media outlet had.
Vardy told the court: “This has nothing to do with me”.
Vardy discussed a tip-off to the press about Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater's arrest for drink-driving
Vardy was asked about whether she had told Watt she wanted payment for a story about Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater being arrested for drink-driving. She said the information was already on social media and the message about payment was “fleeting” and “not a serious comment”.
After hearing The S*n had already had a tip-off and was preparing the story for their front page, Vardy is said to have told Watt: “I’m fuming I didn't give it to you earlier”.
She denied sending a message to Drinkwater asking for his address so she could leak it to the paparazzi. Giving evidence, she said of Drinkwater’s drink-driving: “It was something I felt was dangerous and at the time I didn’t care if the information came out or not. And it was rightly something he should have to deal with."
Vardy said she was just ‘joking’ following an allegation that she told her agent to leak a story about an affair
The court heard messages between Vardy and Watt discussing a well-known female celebrity, known only as Mrs F, sleeping with a footballer, known as Mr G, behind the back of her husband, Mr H.
Vardy is said to have told Watt: “Oh my god have you seen how badly she is behaving. I’m actually disgusted with her. Leak the story about her sh*agging Mr G behind Mr H's back”.
Watt is then said to have explained she had already tried to leak the story but The S*n weren’t able to prove it, to which Vardy replied: “eugh”.
Asked if she had told Watt to leak the story, Vardy said: “I was just joking about that one. I think it was a gossip that was circulating quite a bit. I used the word leak where I probably shouldn’t use the word leak."
During questioning about whether Vardy had asked Watt to leak a different story about a footballer who had cheated on his wife, Mr Sherborne said: “That was standard practice, wasn’t it, that you gave information to Ms Watt and she would give it to the S*n?”
“No,” she replied.
Vardy claims she avoids getting close to journalists as they only use her for stories
Vardy has stuck by claims in her witness statement that she “avoids” having close relationships with journalists because they “only use her for stories”.
She denied “befriending” a showbiz editor at the S*n on Sunday after being shown Instagram messages where she invited her to lunch - saying: “I was just being nice to her”. The court heard her agent Caroline Watt “boasted” in a message that one S*n journalist “always writes nice stories” and “does whatever I ask her - even changing stories she hasn’t written”.
Vardy told the court: “I'm working with The S*n because they are going to print the story. They are going to give me the opportunity to give my story.
“I have done lots of different things with lots of different press, magazines and newspapers. I would have done it with the Mirror, I would have done it with the Daily Mail if that was the opportunity.”
Mr Sherbone said: “But you didn’t because the opportunities were coming time and time again with the S*n, and the interviews were arranged with the same journalists.”
“Yes”, Vardy replied.
Vardy's agent ‘looked at Coleen Rooney's private Instagram account’
The WAG was questioned over her comments yesterday that it would be “wrong” if her agent Caroline Watt was using her Instagram account to look at people’s private accounts.
Mr Sherborne read several messages in which the pair appear to be discussing posts on Rooney’s Instagram - including one of the ‘fake posts’ where she said she was in Mexico to look into gender selection. Mr Sherborne said: “You knew she was looking through Mrs Rooney’s account to see what Mrs Rooney was putting up there, yes or no?”
Vardy said: “Yes. Of course she saw something on her Instagram, that’s undeniable because it says it there, but she has never said once that she is stalking or monitoring her account.” The court heard Watt was the one to tell Vardy that Coleen had unfollowed her a few months before the Wagatha Christie tweet.
The trial continues.
