Rebekah Vardy denied leaking a story to the press about Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez during her libel trial with Coleen Rooney.
Vardy was accused by fellow WAG Coleen Rooney 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 the now-famous Wagatha Christie post.
The 40-year-old denies the allegations and is suing Rooney, the wife of England star Wayne, for defamation.
Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie, is being taken through messages with her agent Caroline Watt while giving evidence at London’s High Court this morning.
She tells Watt in one message that Mahrez, who played for Leicester at the time, had not turned up to training and added: “The lads are fuming”.
David Sherborne, for Rooney, 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.”
Vardy said: “I was speculating. I overheard conversation, read things in the press. Lots of things were being said about what was said in the dressing room. I had read comments from his family as well. It was just gossip.”
Sherborne continued: “Did you or did you not know that the lads were fuming?”
Vardy said: “No I didn't know that for a fact.”
The court heard Watt then asked Vardy: “Why don’t you tell [Sky Sports journalist] Rob Dorsett?” to which Vardy replied: “I just don’t want it coming back to me”.
Watt is then said to have messaged: “I can tell someone” and Vardy replies: “Yeah, do it”.
Vardy told the court: “I didn’t see what harm that comment would do. It was a bit of harmless gossip. I wasn’t in the dressing room so I can’t comment on what was said.”
After it was suggested her husband was in the dressing room, Vardy said: “I don't know if he was. This has got nothing to do with my husband.”
An article in The Sun was then published stating that Mahrez’s teammates had “turned on him”.
Mr Sherborne said: “What they have in their exclusive, that none of the other newspapers have, is that Mr Mahrez failed to turn up as his teammates turn on him.”
Vardy said: “This has nothing to do with me”.
The WAG was also asked about whether she had told Watt she wanted payment for a story about Chelsea player Danny Drinkwater being arrested for drink-driving.
Vardy said the information was already on social media and the message about payment was “fleeting” and “not a serious comment”.
She said: “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.”
After hearing The Sun had already had a tip-off and were 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”.
Mr Sherborne asked her: “Why are you fuming that you didn't give it to Caroline earlier?”
Vardy said: “I don't know why I was fuming I didn't give it to Caroline earlier. It wasn't because The Sun already had it for their front page.”
Sherborne continued: “Caroline Watt knows you’re fuming. She says: ‘Me too, that would have been a fortune’.”
Vardy replied: “With laughing faces. If she was angry there would have been crying faces.
“I know how badly they read and I apologise for how badly they read. These are private conversations between two people that knew each other very well, that knew each other’s sense of humour.”
Asked if she messaged Drinkwater to try and get his address so Watt could tip-off the paparazzi, Vardy said: “If I did message him, which I can’t remember if I did, I would have told him he’s a f***ing idiot”.
The court also heard messages between the pair discussing a well-known female celebrity, known as Mrs F, sleeping with a footballer, known only as Mr G, behind her husband’s back.
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***ging Mr G behind his back”.
Watt is then said to have explained she had already tried to leak the story but The Sun weren’t able to prove it, to which Vardy replied: “eugh”.
Asked if she had told Watt to leak the story, Vardy said: “That’s the way it reads but in context, bits of information mixed in with other bits of information. 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. I was just joking when I said this comment”.
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 Sun?”
“No,” she replied.
The trial continues.
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