Wagatha Christie: Wayne Rooney describes ‘awkward’ moment he asked Jamie Vardy to get his wife to ‘calm down’

Charlie Herbert

Wayne Rooney gives evidence at Wagatha Christie

England’s record goalscorer has taken the stand on day six of the trial

Wayne Rooney has claimed he had a conversation in 2016 with Jamie Vardy in which he asked him to ask his wife Rebekah to “calm down.”

Rooney told the court that Roy Hodgson asked him at the European Championships in 2016 to have a word with his teammate Jamie about his wife’s behaviour.

The former England forward was captain at the tournament in France.

He told the court: “The England manager, Roy Hodgson and his assistant manager Gary Neville… they asked me to, as captain, would I be able to speak to Mr Vardy on issues regarding his wife.”

Rooney added: “I think we all knew that it was an awkward subject.”

He continued: “So I agreed to speak to Mr Vardy… to ask him to ask his wife to calm down.

“It was an awkward moment for me to speak to Jamie about his wife but I thought it was necessary having been asked by the England manager.”

Wayne Rooney gives evidence about Euro 2016, says Roy Hodgson asked him to have a word with Jamie Vardy "on issues regarding his wife".

"We all knew that it was an awkward subject so I needed to speak to Mr Vardy and speak to his wife and ask him to ask his wife to calm down.”

— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) May 17, 2022

Rooney clarified that the issue he was asked to speak to his teammate about was “Becky’s media activities” which were “causing problems and distractions.”

He also revealed that he was “at the understanding Rebekah had a column in The Sun,” Sky News reports.

“I was asked to speak to Mr Vardy by the England manager and the assistant manager and I carried out that instruction… I felt in the best interests of the rest of the team, and having been asked by the manager of the England team, I carried out that instruction,” he told the court.

Vardy had previously told the court that her husband insists the conversation never happened.

When her lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson QC, challenged Rooney about this, he replied: “I’m sat here under oath, I 100 percent spoke to Mr Vardy about this situation.”

“If he wants to relay that back to his wife that is entirely his business,” he added.

Rebekah Vardy has told the court that her husband Jamie insists he never had a chat with Wayne Rooney about her media activities causing trouble for the England squad.

Rooney says he "100%" had a chat: "If he wants to relay that back to his wife that is entirely his business.”

— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) May 17, 2022

When asked by his wife’s lawyer, David Sherborne, to detail the conversation he had with Jamie Vardy, Rooney said: “We were sat in the games room.

“I remember Mr Vardy had a can of Red Bull – I had a coffee.

“I remember details from the conversation with Mr Vardy because it was such an awkward moment.”

Rooney said the past two and a half years have been “very traumatic” for his wife.

Tuesday is the penultimate day of the trial, in which Vardy is suing Coleen Rooney for libel after Rooney accused her of leaking stories about her private life to The Sun in October 2019. Vardy denies these accusations and claims they are false and defamatory.

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