Coleen Rooney’s u-turn: ‘I need to make peace with Rebekah Vardy’

Their infamous “war of the WAGS” is still causing ructions – and even celebrities such as Robbie Williams have weighed in on the drama. Earlier this month, he appeared to slam Coleen Rooney for accusing Rebekah Vardy’s account of leaking fake stories about her to the press – with Robbie warning that the backlash from the fallout could be “suicide-causing”. And Celebrity X Factor star and former footballer Vinnie Jones branded them an “embarrassment to their husbands.”

And pals say that Coleen, 33 – who is notoriously private – is so fed up with all the ongoing drama since she posted her accusation on Instagram in October, that she is now hoping to initiate “peace talks” with Rebekah, 37 – who has insisted she was not the perpetrator.

A source says, “Coleen has begrudgingly accepted that it may have been a mistake to go public in the way she did. She never thought it would create something as ridiculously overblown as this ‘WAG war’. Even though she still feels she was justified in highlighting how she’s been trying to get to the bottom of who was leaking stories on her life, she also accepts that, in hindsight, she could have gone about it differently to save herself from all this controversy.

“Coleen wants to speak to Rebekah directly within the coming weeks. They used to chat and message before but, obviously, all communication stopped when this blew up. The last time they spoke directly was when Rebekah called Coleen to ask why she had put that post up.Everything else has been handled through their lawyers. Coleen thinks things will be sorted quicker now if she just speaks to Rebekah on the phone.”

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However, Coleen’s friends are worried the damage may already have been done, as Rebekah has already said their feud has “gone past an apology”. They’ve warned Coleen that an olive branch could look like an admission of guilt, which Coleen insists isn’t the case.

The source adds, “From Coleen’s side, she has never wanted to be in the spotlight and just wants a quiet life, so it’s a little ironic that she’s under the microscope because of her own post. She hates people talking about her – that’s why she put the statement out in the first place, as a warning to anyone betraying her trust – so now she wants all this put to bed for good.

“Rebekah has told mutual friends that she is still feeling hurt and humiliated. She would take the phone call for her own peace of mind, but it’s unlikely there’ll be any forgiveness between the pair. Rebekah has been saying that if they’d had this conversation in the first place, she’d never have had to go through all this while she’s pregnant.”

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Coleen’s Instagram sting operation made headlines around the world, and she was comically dubbed “WAGatha Christie”. However, Rebekah, who is seven months pregnant with her fifth child, vehemently denied the claims and instructed her lawyers to do a “forensic investigation” on her account, saying she wished Coleen had called her before going public, as “various people” have had access to her social media accounts. There were reports at the time that Rebekah had cut short her holiday to Dubai as the news broke, with insiders describing how the accusation had left her “distraught”.

Although she was initially lauded for her amateur detective work, the tide has begun to turn against Coleen in recent weeks as the public called for her to release the evidence she claimed she had collected. She suffered even more trolling last week, with tweets directed at her including, “If Coleen is so adamant to publicly accuse, she should be willing to show the fruits of her ‘investigation’.” Another wrote, “If Becky has proof it wasn’t her then Coleen will look an idiot… this should have been dealt with privately!”

Closer recently told how the “WAG war” had caused tension between Coleen and footballer husband Wayne, who played alongside Rebekah’s husband Jamie Vardy for England, as he hasn’t publicly defended her or posted a public photo of her in support – in stark contrast to Jamie, who has thrown his support behind his wife from the start.

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And a source says one of the reasons Coleen is calling Rebekah is to help heal their marital strain. Wayne has returned to the UK following an 18-month stint at DC United in Washington and has two months off work before he joins his new team Derby County in January. And pals say she just wants to spend this time together as a family, with their four boys Kai, ten, Klay, six, Kit, three, and one-year-old Cass. The source explains, “Coleen knows she and Rebekah will never be friends again, but that’s not her concern right now. She just doesn’t want this hanging over her and Wayne and their family any longer.

“And she doesn’t want to go into the new year at odds with Wayne, who is fed up with it all. This Christmas is a special time for them, because for most of their 17 years together, Wayne has had matches over the festive season – so this is one of the first times they’ll have the whole holiday to relax as a family. It will be even more relaxed if they can go into it drama-free."

Read more in this week's Closer magazine, out now.