Rebekah Vardy has said she feels “let down by the legal system” in her first interview since losing her “Wagatha Christie” defamation battle against Coleen Rooney.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy’s wife appears to be getting emotional in a teaser clip released ahead of an interview with TalkTV.
Vardy, 40, last week lost a defamation battle against Rooney, 36, over a viral social media post, after a High Court judge found it was “substantially true”.
In his first interview since the sentencing, a tearful Vardy sits down with TalkTV presenter Kate McCann to discuss the verdict.
First, I’m a celebrity… Get me out of here! The contestant looks at McCann and says, “Come on, you can’t ask me that.”
Later in the preview clip, Vardy can be seen firmly stating: “I’ll say this until I’m blue in the face. I didn’t.”
She also says, “I feel let down by a lot of people, a lot of things, but most importantly I feel let down by the legal system.”
Rebekah Vardy sat down for an interview with TalkTV
(TalkTV)
In the October 2019 social media post, Rooney said he had been running a “sting operation” for months and accused Vardy of leaking “false stories” about his private life to the press.
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney publicly claimed Vardy’s account was the source behind three stories in The Sun newspaper with false details he had posted on his private Instagram stories.
Vardy denied leaking stories to the media and sued his fellow footballer’s wife for defamation, while Rooney defended the claim on the basis that his publication was “substantially true”.
In an interview with The Sun published on Tuesday, Vardy says he had confronted Rooney over the latter’s social media post which ended with the words: “It’s the account of …….. . Rebekah Vardy”.
Vardy said he was on holiday in Dubai on 9 October 2019 when he heard that his former friend Rooney was accusing him of leaking stories. She said he confronted her saying, “Coleen, what the hell is this?”
Vardy also told the paper that he has had to increase his security as he has received up to 100 threatening messages a day and people on the street have called him “disgusting”, “a rat” and ” troll”.
Coleen Rooney during the legal battle ‘Wagatha Christie’
(James Manning/PA)
He added: “The abuse I was getting was crazy. At first it would be 100 messages a day. I even got letters to my house and some crazy shit, including letters from psychics.
“I was linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, people who suggested she was a member of [terror group] IS, stuff like that. It was like I had killed someone. Every time something happened it was my fault, every time something new broke it was my fault”.
Vardy continued: “Jamie and everyone said, ‘Don’t read it. They are people who have nothing better to do with their lives.”
“But my bottom line is, when you put my family through something, when you subject my children to such vicious, disgusting hatred, it’s eye-opening and it hurts. I’ve had death threats, rape threats, pretty much everything . It’s the pits, really.”
Several people who have sent him online threats have been arrested, he told The Sun.
Both Vardy and Rooney attended a week-long trial at the High Court in London in May, which attracted a large amount of press attention.
In a much-anticipated ruling on July 29, Mrs Justice Steyn found in Rooney’s favor and dismissed the claim against her.
The total legal costs of the case are believed to be in the region of £3m, the majority of which will now be borne by Vardy.
As the teaser draws to a close, Vardy suddenly bows his head before looking up again with tears in his eyes.
Rebekah Vardy: Coleen and Me airs on TalkTV on August 3 at 7pm.