Why Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy’s feud will never heal

It’s been seven months since Coleen Rooney accused her then-pal, Rebekah Vardy, of leaking details of her private life – sparking the biggest celebrity scandal of last year – and last week, rumours were rife that the warring WAGS were holding peace talks.

In October, Coleen, 34, revealed how she had turned detective to “prove” Rebekah’s personal account had been sharing stories about her family based on her private Instagram posts.

Rebekah, 38 – wife of Leicester City star Jamie, 33, and who was heavily pregnant with her fifth child, Olivia, at the time – fiercely denied the claims and launched her own forensic investigation into the leak to prove Coleen – who was famously dubbed ‘WAGatha Christie’ – wrong.

After being pictured in floods of tears on holiday in Dubai when the scandal broke, Rebekah – who had previously often socialised with Coleen and her family, and was said to “look up to her” – then allegedly threatened to countersue the wife of England record scorer Wayne, 35, for libel.

The footballers’ wives are believed to have begun to try to settle their legal wrangle, with recent reports they were set to face off in an arbitration meeting using the video-chat app Zoom.

However, Closer’s psychological therapist Emma Kenny says that, while they are right to clear the air, the pair may struggle to repair their friendship completely.

She explains, “While Rebekah will likely never truly forgive Coleen for what she sees as causing her trauma during her pregnancy, and tarnishing her reputation in the process, it’s just as likely Coleen will struggle to fully trust Rebekah again.

“Peace talks may be difficult for them both as neither will want to admit they are even slightly in the wrong. Both the women undoubtedly still feel so betrayed. And while they may be amicable if needs be – say if they bump into each other at a social event – the memories and the scars are still there and their feud will never fully heal.”

“Heartbreakingly, both women have been through an extraordinarily testing time recently, because of the lockdown restrictions. Coleen has openly posted about missing her parents who she is very close to, while Rebekah’s youngest child is just months old.

"The pandemic will no doubt have exacerbated the situation for both of them. It’s often tempting to try to pin the blame on someone else, and in a highly charged situation, like the one we’re currently experiencing with lockdown, it can trigger even more intense emotional responses and you may end up trapped in the same cycle and unable to see a way forwards.

“But they are right to talk through their issues and, at least, try to come to an amicable resolution. Bitterness and conflict rarely result in positive outcomes, so trying to smooth over problems and discuss their difference of opinions can ease tensions, even if slightly. And right now, more than ever, life has been put into perspective – making even upsetting matters like this seem less important.

“Settling out of court and drawing a line under it will mean they can both move on with their lives and concentrate fully on their families, something they are clearly passionate about.”

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When it happened, the spat forced the footballing world to take sides. Danielle Lloyd, who used to be married to former Spurs star Jamie O’Hara, branded Rebekah a “rat”, while women’s England football star Toni Duggan called it a “betrayal”.

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Nicola McLean, wife of former QPR footballer Tom Williams, defended Rebekah, insisting she was innocent, while ex-footballer Vinnie Jones called them “an embarrassment”.

At the time, ex-WAG Lizzie Cundy – friends with Coleen – told Closer it was “so strange” the bombshell had stemmed from Coleen because “she hates being in the spotlight”.

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She added, “There’s no sentiment in football. It’s about making money, and the more famous your partner is, the more famous you are. It gets obsessive.

“But Coleen is also a very sweet girl and she is a lot more clever than people give her credit for – I guess that’s why she’s done it this way, because people will see she’s not a pushover. It’ll make everyone think twice before they cross her again.”

Rebekah, however, revealed that although Coleen didn’t call her before making the public allegation, the pair spoke on the phone soon after the drama exploded.

She said, “It was not an easy phone call. [Coleen] said to me, ‘I’m not pointing the finger’ and I said, ‘You have just annihilated me in public and hung me out to dry. The whole world hates me!’”

Then in February, she told the Loose Women panel it was the “worst time” of her life.

A source tells Closer, “The sadness behind this feud is that Coleen and Rebekah were good friends once, and would hang out together.

“The last few months with the coronavirus has shown them that life is too fragile for petty squabbles, which is why they want to end it now. While they may never get that friendship back to what it was, neither of them want continued bitterness between them or in the footballing community.”

Read even more celeb news in this week's Closer magazine - out now.

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