Rebekah Vardy interview: what did she say about Coleen Rooney and Wagatha Christie libel case on TalkTV?

Rebekah Vardy says she feels “let down by the legal system” in her first interview since losing the Wagatha Christie case against Coleen Rooney.

Vardy, who is married to footballer Jamie Vary, spoke to TalkTV’s Kate McCann in a tell-all interview which will air tonight (3 August 2022).

In a teaser clip released ahead of the interview, Vardy appeared to become emotional after a High Court judge found Rooney’s claims to be “substantially true”.

What is the Wagatha Christie court case? 

In 2019, Rooney claimed to have caught a friend who was sharing false stories about her in The Sun, saying she discovered the “betrayal” by posting fake information about herself via her Instagram stories.

In a tweet posted in October 2019, she wrote: “Over the past five months I have posted a series of false stories to see if they made their way into The Sun newspaper

“And you know what, they did! … Now I know for certain which account/individual it’s come from. I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

Vardy denied leaking stories to the media and filed a libel lawsuit against Rooney, claiming that the accusations caused her “extreme distress, hurt, anxiety and embarrassment.”

However, The High Court judge ruled that Rooney’s Instagram post outing Vardy for leaking stories to The Sun was “substantially true" on 29 July 2022.

What has Rebekah Vardy said in her first interview after the case?

Vardy has accused Rooney of “weaponising” her fan base during the so-called “Wagatha Christie” trial.

The wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy said Rooney’s decision to expose her publicly had been “sinister” and that she had initially thought it was “not real”.

Speaking to The Sun, she described how she had phoned Rooney to confront her about the original post, which was posted online in October 2019.

She said: “I picked up the phone and I called her and said ‘what the f*** is this?’ and her response was quite, I don’t know, quite rude, quite harsh.

“She basically just said, ‘you know what this is?’ And at that point, I really didn’t know what it was.

“I’d read the words and you know when you read something, and it’s like reading it about someone else. “And it’s like, ‘no, surely this is not real. This can’t be real’.”

She added: “No one would do something so sinister knowing that they were weaponising a fan base against someone.”

Vardy also told The Sun she was “scared to be out in public places” after receiving up to 100 abusive messages per day, with some people going the “the extra mile” to abuse her by linking her with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group.

She told the paper: “The whole thing has been awful. At its worst, I was worried to be on my own, to leave the house. I was scared to be out in public places

“Even the smallest things, like going shopping, were horrendous.”

“Everyone always says: ‘These people wouldn’t say things to your face’, but actually you do get the odd few that go that extra mile.

“The abuse I was getting was insane. At the beginning it would be 100 messages a day. I was linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, people suggesting I was a member of IS, stuff like that. It was as if I’d murdered someone.”

Vardy also said that she had been admitted to hospital twice to be treated for mental health issues since the original post in 2019.

She explained: “I was having serious panic attacks. I had kidney stones which were brought on by stress, and I just felt like my life was falling apart. Physically, emotionally and mentally it was exhausting.

“It was draining. I had to go to hospital a couple of times because they were really worried about my mental well-being. And since the court case, I think I’m probably suffering with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

“I feel physically sick when I talk about the trial and what happened, and I have nightmares. I haven’t gone to get a diagnosis yet but I do know I probably need some more therapy. It’s been a horrible time.”

When will the Vardy TalkTV interview air? 

The teaser clip of Vardy’s interview on TalkTV shows her breaking down in tears as she tells her side of the story.

The former I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Star said she felt “extremely disappointed” after the ruling and says she feels “let down by the legal system”.

Looking at the floor, she said: “I feel let down by a lot of people, a lot of things, but most importantly I feel let down by the legal system.”

It is believed the total legal costs of the case will be in the region of £3 million, most of which will now be borne by Vardy.

Rebekah Vardy: Coleen and me will air on TalkTV on 3 August at 7pm.