Coleen Rooney opens up on Wayne Rooney struggles and 'strain' of court case

Coleen Rooney admits her stint on I’m A Celebrity has been a life changing experience and allowed her to show the world she is no princess – but some things are still the same, her bond with Wayne.

Just as ex-footballer Wayne supported Coleen through the draining and dramatic Wagatha Christie trial, so she is helping him after he left as manager of struggling Plymouth Argyle. Coleen, 38, went into the I’m A Celeb jungle as a big name and emerged as a new national treasure who is set to get her own TV shows.

The mum-of-four’s down-to-earth nature and love for her family helped her become a firm favourite and second place. She said: “Life throws different things at you. My marriage has been a massive thing in the press, and I got through that. People are so opinionated, but I’ve always thought that it’s my life, so let me get on with it – it’s got nothing to do with anyone else.

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“The whole court case, everyone had a different opinion. I’ve just gone into the jungle which was a different challenge for me, but coming out, I’ve had so many people coming up to me and saying that they understand my life. I know I’ve always been a tough person, I’m not a princess – I’ve always tackled things and got on with it. I wouldn’t say I could tackle the world now though.

“We [Wayne and I] have helped each other – we’ve gone through everything together. He’s probably struggled more than me – people have hated on him, and it’s tough because he’s out there every week. He told me while I was in the jungle that he was getting chants about me all the time.

“I grew with Wayne Rooney, from him going from just being a player to this big superstar. We’ve gone through it together.” Her and Wayne are parents to their four beloved boys; Kai, 15, and Klay, 11, Kit, eight, and Cass, six. And while in the jungle, Coleen’s two youngest and her mum Colette flew to Australia to support her.

Coleen told the Stick to Football podcast: “The impact from I’m A Celeb has been massive. I knew it was a big show, but I didn’t think people would take that much interest in me. I’ve done stuff in the past but the amount of people that have not got me and my personality, they’ve just taken bits and bobs and not seen me as a person. Being in the public eye, people forget that we are just normal people. I started being in the public eye when I was 16 – it’s been a long time. It’s been so nice and positive [the reaction from the show].

Coleen will need to be there for Wayne at the moment after he left Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle by mutual agreement on December 31. But he was there for her when she faced the Wagatha Christie trial. Coleen earned the nickname through her detective work which exposed rival WAG Rebekah Vardy as the source of leaked stories to a newspaper about the Rooneys. Vardy sued Coleen for libel but lost the court case. The legal battle.

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Looking back on the strain it put on them and their relationship, Coleen said: “It was the lowest I’d say I’ve ever been – I had no control over it and that was hard. I knew what I was saying was right, but the fact that someone else took me to court and I had to prove it and say it was what it was was tough. It was a long period of time and I couldn’t get away from it. Every day, I’d wake up and think ‘Coleen, just get on with your day’ – but it kept creeping back in all the time. I felt like I wasn’t myself, I was snappy, and every Friday the lawyers rang me – the other team try and ruin your weekend by calling at the last point on Friday.

“They’d tell me what’s going on and then to try and have a nice weekend. I’d go away and start overthinking things, and start looking for things that he’s asking for. It got to 2am, Wayne would be waiting on the couch to watch something and eventually say ‘I’m going to bed’. It put a strain on family life, friends – I wasn’t sociable, and it stripped me.”

Speaking to Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and Ian Wright on the podcast, there were also some lighter moments as Coleen told how Wayne once risked causing a fire in the house when he blew up her hairdryer while trying to sleep. Wayne has previously discussed how he sometimes uses a hairdryer to help him sleep as he finds the noise soothing.

Coleen said: “It’s a fan when I’m in the bed, but if not, it is a hairdryer. If I get up, if he’s still in bed I hear him get a hairdryer. Has he told you that it’s caught on fire before? The hairdryer is on cool, but one time he was cold, so it turned it to hot – and it blew up!” She also told how she is so organised while her lads are so boisterous she has a rota for literally everything.

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She said: “It’s madness, it’s just mayhem all the time. We have a rota of who gets to sit at the front [of the car] going to school. Even though there is a rota, it’s just mayhem every morning. They just torment each other and it’s like a domino effect. It’s a lively house but it’s funny because everyone loves coming to our house, because it’s just entertaining. I grew up with two brothers, so I’m used to being around boys. I quite like the boys. Wayne would have liked a girl, and I think would I have clashed for a girl! Boys just get on with it and girls are more emotional.”

And while Wayne got abused when Coleen was in the jungle, his sons also face attacks on the football pitch because their superstar father was a player. Coleen said: “A few years ago, I remember my son Kai took a penalty at St George’s Park, where we were for a tournament. It went to penalties, Kai stepped up and just skied it. Afterwards I asked him how he could take a penalty like that, and he told me he was just fuming as the goalkeeper was saying ‘Your dad’s sh*t’, and he got dead angry. It doesn’t happen to him very often, but it did then, and you can see in some games where they give you a little push. He’s strong-minded though and usually shrugs it off.”

Coleen Rooney was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, which you can watch on The Overlap YouTube channel.

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