Coleen Rooney said going to court over her Wagatha Christie feud with Rebekah Vardy was her “worst nightmare” as she felt she was “putting on a show for the whole world”, but added she was not scared about making the viral post which kicked off the dispute.
The 38-year-old, married to ex-England footballer Wayne Rooney, was asked about the high-profile libel trial with Vardy, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, during Monday’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.
Rooney was dubbed Wagatha Christie when she accused Vardy of leaking her private information to the press. In July 2022, a judge at the High Court found the post was “substantially true”.
Campmate and podcaster GK Barry, real name is Grace Keeling, asked Rooney if she was scared to make the social media post.
“No, because I just didn’t think it would have the impact it did, because I was just that sick and tired of it, it was draining,” Rooney said on the ITV reality show.
“That was my worst nightmare to go to court… I felt ashamed going to court because I am not that type to play things out in public.
“I just felt like it was like putting on a show for the whole world. I didn’t want that, I wanted to settle it before and get it done with.
“What got me, over the whole thing, was it became a bit of a joke and that’s really disappointing, it wasn’t a joke for me.
“…But no one knew the full story.”
It came after journalist Jane Moore compared the trial to Diana, Princess of Wales’ relationship with the press, saying: “Can you imagine if Princess Diana would have done a Wagatha Christie? That was epic though what you did.”
“She (Diana) was really good at having a relationship with the media, she played it very well,” the 62-year-old added.
Later in the episode, Rooney became emotional over the loss of her sister Rosie, after boxing star Barry McGuigan spoke about the death of his daughter.
“She was 14 when she died, she’d be 26 now. It’s hard to lose a child, I’ve always said that… so we’re lucky to have what we’ve got,” she said.
The episode also saw Keeling take on the Vile Volcano trial, searching inside a series of caves and tunnels littered with snakes, spiders, rats and creepy crawlies to find hidden stars.
The 25-year-old completed the Bushtucker Trial, taking back nine out of 10 stars for camp.
Meanwhile, Tulisa Contostavlos explained that band N-Dubz was formed because her cousin Dappy’s father offered her money to be in a group with him.
“My uncle offered me 20 quid and then I bartered him up to 50,” she recalled.
The 36-year-old said “at the moment we made it, I was at the sort of give-up stage”, having been making music since the age of 11 before they were signed when she was 17.
The episode also saw former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse and radio DJ Melvin Odoom take part in the Diner Down Under challenge, which saw them asked to make four correct dinner orders to win dingo dollars as they were covered in a range of rotting jungle diner ingredients.
At the end of the episode, it was revealed that radio star Dean McCullough will take on the next trial, named Sinister Sarcophagus, to win meals for camp.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX.
