Three “false” stories Coleen Rooney claims to have uploaded to her private Instagram account during a months-long “sting operation” are at the centre of her libel dispute with Rebekah Vardy, which is set to conclude today.
In her now famous October 2019 social media “reveal” post, Ms Rooney claimed her fellow footballer’s wife’s account was the only one to see the posts and alleged that information from them was leaked to The Sun newspaper – something Ms Vardy denies being responsible for.
Ms Rooney claims to have made this “sting operation” post about a so-called gender-selection treatment on April 8, 2019.
Rebekah Vardy alongside husband Jamie
Yui Mok
The post featured a photograph of the back seat of an airplane overlaid with the text “Let’s go and see what this gender selection is all about”.
She alleges that the invented post was marked on Instagram as “seen” only by Ms Vardy’s account, with her lawyers providing a screengrab to the High Court.
In August that year, The Sun published an article claiming Ms Rooney travelled to Mexico to look into the treatment.
The story, carrying journalist Andy Halls’s byline, is headlined “COL’S BABY GIRL BID Coleen Rooney travelled to Mexico to look into £8k ‘gender selection’ treatment in desperate bid to have baby girl”.
The article, referring to “a source” and “pals”, alleged Ms Rooney is “so desperate for her fifth baby to be a girl” that she wants to hear more about a process “in which doctors examine embryos in a lab before implanting only those of the desired gender back into the womb”.
A private fabricated post about planning a return to TV was made on September 25, 2019, Ms Rooney claims.
She says it featured a “selfie” and the text “Up and out!! Easing my way back into work!! TV decisions today…. maybe it’s time for Australia” and claims it was seen only by Ms Vardy’s account.
Three days later, a Sun article was published under the headline “ROO-MBA Coleen Rooney in talks to join Strictly next year as she looks to revive TV career when Wayne returns to UK”.
Coleen Rooney
Yui Mok
It quoted an anonymous source and claimed to exclusively reveal Mrs Rooney was “locked in talks with producers”, planned to “front a fashion programme” and “could well do” the Strictly Come Dancing TV show.
The court has been told Mr Hamilton has denied that Ms Vardy or her agent Caroline Watt were the source of the article.
Ms Rooney’s lawyers have accepted that the post and article “do not match up entirely” but argue the timing was “very close” and it fuelled Ms Rooney’s suspicions about the leaking of her information and therefore supports her defence that the sting operation was in the public interest.
Ms Rooney also says she shared false information about her basement being flooded on October 2, 2019 in another “sting operation” post.
She again alleged to the High Court that the post was viewed only by Ms Vardy’s Instagram account.
Her lawyers have shared a screengrab of the post featuring a bottle of wine overlaid with the text: “Needed after today… flood in the basement of our new house… when it all seemed to be going so well."
On October 8, The Sun published a story, with Simon Boyle’s byline, headlined: “IN ROO-INS Wayne and Coleen Rooney’s £20million ‘Morrisons mansion’ flooded during Storm Lorenzo”.
The article, quoting a “source close to the couple”, claimed to reveal that bad weather had “wreaked havoc” at a Cheshire property, with Ms Rooney being “called in to find the cellar had been flooded”.
Ms Vardy strongly denies leaking stories about Ms Rooney to journalists.
The trial continues.