It’s been one of the most divisive and toxic showbiz spats of the last decade – with the nation avidly following Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy’s ongoing feud and explosive court battle over the past 14 months.
But the new year could see the final chapter of the infamous “WAGatha Christie” casedrawing to a close – as, despite months of mud-slinging and legal action, it seems the two might be amicably making amends.
Rebekah, 38, who is suing former pal Coleen, 34, for libel after she publicly accused Rebekah’s Instagram account of leaking stories about her to a national newspaper – something she vehemently denies – gave the biggest hint yet of a resolution between the pair when she revealed she could “potentially” see them resolving their differences.
Speaking in an interview last month, Rebekah – who’s set to star in the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice – said, “The new year could potentially see a resolution between us. I’m pretty sure the public are sick of reading about it, too.”
Earlier last month, it was reported that Rebekah, who’s been pictured looking happy and relaxed in her online posts and while in training for her DOI debut, recently accused Coleen of sending a chilling message, with fresh court documents revealing the star had claimed Coleen wrote: “If you play games with me, I will play them harder.”
Rebekah had previously revealed in legal papers her anguish about being exposed to “public ridicule”, also claiming in the documents that the stress of the scandal had left her fearful of losing her unborn baby,
Coleen, married to England star Wayne Rooney, was dubbed “WAGatha Christie” for her detective skills around the leaked stories. She broke her silence around the case when she spoke out through her team last June to say it was “disappointing” Rebekah had started legal action against her.
She later hit out at her former friend in explosive court documents, accusing her of being a “serial leaker” and claiming she was left “not knowing who to trust”.
Check out: from Cheryl to Coleen Rooney - where are the 2006 WAGS now?
The UK Wags - where are they now? - slider
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1 of 9Victoria Beckham
One half of the indestructible Beckham brand, Victoria was the original Queen WAG in 2006. At the time Victoria had been married to David for seven years and had just given birth to her third boy, Cruz. She had also just launched her denim line, dvb Style and walked the catwalk for Roberto Cavalli. Over a decade later, she is a fully fledged and well respected fashion designer, with a fourth addition to her brood – the adorable Harper.
2 of 9Coleen Rooney
Coleen rose to fame as a WAG at just 20 years old. Coleen and Wayne are married and they celebrated their ten-year anniversary in 2018. However, Wayne's repeated cheating has strained the relationship over the years. They have four children together, Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass. Since 2006 Coleen has released a fitness DVD, been a style advisor for Littlewoods and even had a column with us in Closer magazine.
3 of 9Cheryl
How could we forget Cheryl as a WAG? Back then, 23-year-old Cheryl was a popstar in Girls Aloud who had just married Ashley Cole. Nowadays, Cheryl is a household name and a worldwide celebrity in her own right. After splitting from Ashley in 2010, she had a successful (well, successful-ish) solo career, was a judge on The X Factor and was the face of beauty brand L'Oreal. She married Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2016 but they divorced three months later. Most recently, Cheryl separated from One Direction singer, Liam Payne, who she has a baby son called Bearwith.
4 of 9Abbey Clancy
Abbey first grabbed our attention in 2006 as one of the finalists in Britain's Next Top Model. She began dating Peter Crouch that same year and the pair are now married with three kids Sophia Ruby, Liberty Rose and baby Johnny. Lingerie model Abbey went on to win Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and she returned to Britain's Next Top Model as the show's presenter. Not bad work, eh?
5 of 9Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd was dating footballer Teddy Sheringham when she gained her WAG status. At the time, her title as Miss Great Britain was a controversial matter and she was later stripped of it. Fast forward to now and Danielle has appeared on TV shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, Total Wipeout, The Weakest Link and even Come Dine With Me. She has three sons, Archie, Harry and George with her now ex-husband Jamie O'Hara. Danielle gave birth to a fourth child with her husband Michael O'Neill, Ronnie, in 2017.
6 of 9Elen Rivas
Elen Rivas was engaged to Frank Lampard at the time of the 2006 World Cup, and was a permanent fixture in the WAG circle. After splitting from Frank after a seven-year relationship, she dated Peter Andre, appeared on Dancing On Ice and now looks after her two daughters Luna and Isla while working as a model. Frank has since married TV presenter Christine Bleakley and they've welcomed their daughter Patricia into the world.
7 of 9Louise Owen
Despite being married to one of the most famous footballers at the time, Louise Owen wasn't your stereotype WAG. She has always managed to keep her distance from the limelight. Her passion is rescuing race horses and she currently lives in Wales with her husband Michael and their four children, Gemma, James, Jessica and Emily.
8 of 9Carly Zucker
Now known as Carly Cole after marrying midfielder Joe Cole in Chelsea in 2009, Carly loved to party during the 2006 World Cup (we know the feeling). She then spent two weeks in the jungle during I'm A Celeb in 2009 before being the third to be booted out. Carly and Joe have had three children, Ruby, Harrison and Max together.
9 of 9Alex Curran
Former nail technician Alex Curran began dating Liverpool player Steven Gerrard in 2002. She was one of the leading figures in the 2006 WAG squad. The pair married in 2007 and they have had four children together, Lexie, Lio, Lord, Lilly-Ella. Fashion lover Alex has released a perfume, fronted a Lipsy campaign and written a weekly shopping column for a national newspaper.
A mediation attempt took place in June, but after failing to reach a solution, Rebekah – wife of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy – decided to press ahead with the £1million lawsuit, winning the first round in her high court battle against mum-of-three Coleen in November.
The judge urged the two women to try to settle their differences through further mediation in a bid to avoid a costly five-day libel trial later this year, with the warring WAGs reportedly agreeing to hold last-ditch peace talks before Christmas.
Here, Closer speaks to former WAG Imogen Thomas and Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Leanne Brown about whether they believe bridges can be rebuilt between the pair, and just what it might take to salvage their friendship...
Leanne: ‘I’ve cut negative people out of my life – Coleen should, too’
WAG Leanne Brown – married to footballer Wes Brown – knows all too well what it feels like to be embroiled in a legal row with a former friend. Leanne, 43, hit headlines in 2017 after she fell out with her Real Housewives Of Cheshire co-star Dawn Ward, 47, in a feud over a £500,000 loan that Dawn and her husband Ashley had allegedly not repaid. Dawn denied the accusations and Leanne later decided to step back from the argument and move on, but she previously told Closer that the row “drove her to the point of nervous breakdown”. She later left the reality show and the ex best friends still aren’t speaking.
And Leanne now says the ordeal taught her to cut out “negative people” from her life – and advises pal Coleen do the same. She says, “I think it would be great if the two settled it outside of court. But even if they make amends, that doesn’t mean them becoming best friends – they weren’t really that close to begin with. Coleen is a really lovely person and, while I don’t know what the real story is, I can imagine that feeling betrayed by someone in your close network would have really hurt her, whatever the circumstances.
“From my own experience, I’ve learned that the best way to deal with things like this is to just remove negativity and drama from my circles. So I’ve cut people I feel are toxic out of my life, and focused on the positives, in order to move on and let it go. Coleen should do that, too. If they encounter each other in the future, I’m sure they’d be civil, but there isn’t any bouncing back from something like that. I think 2021 should be about new beginnings and positivity.”
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Imogen: ‘It’s not great to have bad blood – they need to forgive & forget’
She experienced her own legal drama in 2012 when she battled footballer Ryan Giggs over a super-injunction granted after their extramarital fling. And now Imogen Thomas says she believes the best thing Coleen and Rebekah could do is make amends and let the drama go.
Imogen, 38, says, “I’ve been through the drama of fallouts and court cases. But if they – and the last year we’ve had amid the stresses of the pandemic – have taught me anything, it’s that life is too short. While there’s been a lot of back and forth between them, it would be great if they could just try to settle things, get everything out into the open on the table, and try to save what’s left of their friendship. They’ve both got kids and families – I’m sure neither of them wants the tension or drama, so it would be so good if they could just forgive and forget.
“I’ve been around this WAG world for nearly 15 years now, and I can tell you it’s not great to have bad blood. You need allies – I never like to fall out with anyone. Coleen and Rebekah’s paths are bound to cross – whether it’s on the showbiz circuit or at football matches. I’m sure their husbands would really appreciate it too if they were civil and there were no added drama if they were to face each other on the pitch again. It may be hard to build up a close friendship, but hopefully, over time, they can get there.”
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