Coleen Rooney on how Wagatha Christie trial impacted her marriage to Wayne: 'I didn’t have time for him'

Coleen Rooney has revealed just how big of an impact the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial had on her marriage with her footballer husband, Wayne Rooney.

Coleen was sued for libel by Rebekah Vardy after a 2019 tweet from Coleen accused Vardy of leaking information from her private Instagram to tabloids.

Vardy subsequently lost the case and was ordered to pay Coleen £1.5 million in legal fees.

Read more: Coleen Rooney finally reveals what she thought about ‘evil’ Rebecca Vardy texts from Wagatha Christie trial (The Independent, 2-min read)

One year on from the case, Coleen, 37, has given her first wide-ranging interview about the trial to Vogue, saying that it "took a toll" on her marriage.

"There were certain moments where we did have disagreements. Not over the case, but [Wayne] would get annoyed with me because I was quite short-tempered," Coleen said.

"I didn’t have time for him. I lost my focus. If you’re in a relationship, obviously that’s one of the main things. You’ve got to have time for each other."

Coleen admitted that she and Wayne have ‘had their ups and downs’ and that it’s been hard to go through these in the public eye.

"But there has always been love there," she added. "If the love is gone then, you know, it’s pointless. But if not, you’ve got something to work for.

Read more: Coleen Rooney: Why loyalty matters so much to her (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)

"It’s been a battle at times. I look at [any] situation we’re in and think, ‘Could we move forward from that? Is it worth moving forward from that?’ I don’t just give up."

She added that she’s doubted their relationship at times, and that she’s been ‘full of frustration and hurt’ but that they have ‘never backed away from it’ and that they have been through ‘so much together’.

Coleen and Wayne Rooney relationship timeline

1997: Coleen McLoughlin and Wayne Rooney meet as 12 year olds both living in Croxteth, Liverpool. In the 2022 Amazon documentary ‘Rooney’, Wayne said: "I think I was about 11 or 12. I knew I wanted to go out with her. I knew I wanted to marry her. And I said to her at the time, ‘When we grow up we’re gonna get married and you’re gonna have our kids.’ She was looking at me like, ‘Yeah, good one’."

Coleen added that she’s best friends with Wayne’s cousin Claire. "My dad and Claire’s dad ran the local boxing gym. Our families have grew up together. He’s a charmer, growing up that’s how he won me over. The more I said no, the more he said, ‘I will one day, I will get that date’."

2001: The pair begin dating, aged 16 after both leaving secondary school.

2002: Wayne made his professional debut for Everton in August 2002, aged 16. In December that year he was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

2003: Wayne made his international debut for England, aged 17, becoming the youngest player to play for England.

It was also this year that he proposed to Coleen, who was also 17, with an engagement ring reportedly worth £46,000. Wayne proposed at a petrol station. In the Rooney documentary, Coleen said: "We’ve always grown up quicker than what we were meant to, I think."

Read more: Coleen Rooney hopes Wayne has ‘learnt’ from his past mistakes (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

2004: Wayne was accused of sleeping with three escorts, one of whom he left a signed photo with. In ‘Rooney’, Coleen said: "Life goes on. I’ve not accepted…I’ve moved on. You’ve moved on. It’s not acceptable what he’s done, but it’s happened and that was in the stage of life we were in at the time but we’ve moved on."

2008: Coleen and Wayne got married on 12 June, 2008 in Genoa, Italy where Westlife performed at the reception.

2009: Coleen gave birth to their first child, Kai Wayne Rooney on 2 November, 2009.

2010: Two escorts claimed Wayne had a threesome with them while Coleen was pregnant. In the Rooney documentary, Wayne said: "When these things have happened, we’ve sat down and I’ve explained what’s happened.

"It’s not nice, it’s not a nice thing to have to do. It won’t happen again. I don’t want it to happen again. And for us to get through it, it’s tough. Tough days, tough weeks, tough months. But I feel we’ve been through hard times and it does make you stronger as well."

2013, 2016 and 2018: Coleen and Wayne welcome three more sons, Klay on 21 May, 2013; Kit on 24 January, 2016 and Cass on 15 February, 2018.

When asked by Vogue whether she was finished having children, Coleen said: "Oh, definitely. One-hundred per cent. Even when I was pregnant with Cass I knew I was done. No more after that."

2019: Coleen tweeted about Rebekah Vardy leaking information from her private Instagram account on 9 October, 2019.

2022: Wayne supported Coleen in court during the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial, but the pair miss the end of it as they go on a family holiday.

2023: Coleen sat down for a rare interview with Vogue, saying that the trial ‘took its toll’ on her and Wayne's relationship. She also revealed that a Disney+ documentary on the Rooneys will be streaming later this year.

Watch: Coleen Rooney breaks silence on 'Wagatha Christie' court battle against Rebekah Vardy