The definitive Wagatha Christie timeline in case you missed I’m A Celeb’s hot topic

Wagatha Christie is quickly becoming I’m A Celeb’s dominant topic, but I understand that not everyone is as criminally online as some of us so here’s a timeline of the drama, scandal, and the ellipsis that keeps Rebekah Vardy up at night.

In case you missed it, Coleen Rooney is currently part of the 2024 I’m A Celeb cast with names like GK Barry, Danny Jones, and Maura Higgins. Rebekah has made her position crystal clear already, branding Coleen a hypocrite and sharing her opinion about the other members of the cast.

The statement that launched a thousand Tweets

This has been a burden in my life for a few years now and finally I have got to the bottom of it…… pic.twitter.com/0YqJAoXuK1

— Coleen Rooney (@ColeenRoo) October 9, 2019

Much like the day the Joey Essex saw a dragon or the moment Rose left Jack in the freezing ocean, some dates go down in history as a turning point for humanity. On October 9, 2019, Coleen Rooney ignited Twitter as she penned a lengthy statement that called out her fellow WAG for the alleged crime of leaking stories from her private Instagram account.

The full statement read: “For a few years now someone who I trusted to follow me on my personal Instagram account has been consistently informing The SUN newspaper of my private posts and stories. There has been so much information given to them about me, my friends and my family – all without my permission or knowledge.

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“After a long time of trying to figure out who it could be, for various reasons, I had a suspicion. To try and prove this, I came up with an idea. I blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account. (Those on my private account must have been wondering why I haven’t had stories on there for a while.) 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! The story about gender selection in Mexico, the story about returning to TV and then the latest story about the basement flooding in my new house. It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. 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.”

Rebekah Vardy responds to Wagatha Christie

After Coleen’s statement sparked news stories across the globe and a trending Twitter hashtag, Rebekah Vardy responded and denied any wrongdoing.

“As I have just said to you on the phone, I wish you had called me if you thought this,” she said. “I never speak to anyone about you as various journalists who have asked me to over the years can vouch for. If you thought this was happening you could have told me and I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped.”

Rebekah claimed that “various people” had access to her account, as she added: “I’m not being funny but I don’t need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you? I liked you a lot Coleen and I’m so upset that you have chosen to do this, especially when I’m heavily pregnant. I’m disgusted that I’m even having to deny this. You should have called me the first time this happened.”

Rebekah took the legal route in June 2020

Eight months after the initial story broke, and after it had been dubbed Wagatha Christie, Rebekah launched a legal attack on her former friend as she issued a £1 million lawsuit that was pegged as “one of the most explosive celebrity feuds heard in London’s High Court” by the Daily Star.

“It is disappointing that Mrs Vardy has chosen to issue court proceedings. Coleen feels that the time and money involved could be put to better use – her offer to meet face to face still stands,” Coleen’s lawyer Paul Lunt said in response.

November 2020: Rebekah 1, Coleen 1

If Coleen scored her first point with the introductory statement, Rebekah clawed back an equaliser in November as a judge dismissed Coleen’s claim that her final line in the statement was merely suggesting there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” Rebekah.

“The whole purpose of the post, on the face of it, is to identify publicly the someone, the person whom Ms Rooney has ‘clearly’ identified as being guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust that she alleges. The ordinary reader would not regard the post as merely telling him or her who it is that Ms Rooney suspects, or as simply raising Ms Vardy’s guilt as no more than one possibility, among others,” Justice Warby said, as per The Guardian.

As a result, Coleen was ordered to pay £23k, and the trial instantly became more difficult as she was forced to prove that the leak was, in fact, Rebekah. Proceedings continued from November 2020 until mid-May 2022 as Mrs Justice Steyn ruled on which arguments Rooney could keep in her defence.

In 2022 they came face-to-face

Months of jabs and rebuttals climaxed in May 2022 as the court heard how there had been a “widespread and significant destruction or loss of evidence” after Rebekah’s agent Caroline Watt allegedly dropped her phone in the North Sea. Coincidentally, it was soon after Coleen’s team asked to see evidence that was on the device.

Over the coming days, the court heard how savage messages exchanged between Caroline and Rebekah that called Coleen everything from “attention seeking” to “nasty” and various swear words.

July 2022 was not a good month for Rebekah Vardy

Two months after the trial’s conclusion, the judge ruled in Coleen’s favour as she declared that Rebekah’s claims of defamation were unfounded. 

As reported by The Guardian, Rebekah issued the following statement after the verdict: “As I explained in my evidence, I, my family and even my unborn baby were subjected to disgusting messages and vile abuse following Coleen’s post and these have continued even during the course of the trial.”

“The case is over. I am extremely sad and disappointed at the decision that the judge has reached. It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s finding,” she added. 

As a result, Rebekah was ordered to pay £3 million, a combination of both her and Coleen’s legal fees. 

Coleen said: “It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others.

“Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn-out and public court case. All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs Vardy.”

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