Four years ago – in October of 2019 to be exact – you might recall a time when Twitter was buzzing with talk of one of the most bizarre feuds to date; the ‘Wagatha Christie’ scandal.
The ‘Wagatha Christie’ scandal, to refresh your memory, involved two WAGs (the wife or girlfriend of a famous sportsman) – Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, married to footballers Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney, respectively – after one accused the other of leaking their private information to the media.
Capturing the attention of just about everyone thanks to its absurdity (and for the iconic reveal of “It was…….. Rebekah Vardy’s account”), the war of the WAGs was highly publicised and followed by the masses, right up until it went to trial in 2022.
Now, a year after the scandal was brought to court, Disney+ is releasing a documentary about the case and the two women, and we have all the details (including first-look images) right here.
What is the true story behind Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney?
In 2019, Coleen Rooney, who is the wife of former English footballer Wayne Rooney, made an Instagram post accusing Rebekah Vardy, the wife of English footballer Jamie Vardy, of leaking her private Instagram stories to a tabloid newspaper.
Coleen had strategically set up a trap by sharing false stories on her private Instagram, making them visible only to Rebekah’s account. So, when the stories eventually made their way into the media, Coleen publicly pointed out that these stories could only have been leaked by Rebekah’s account.
Rebekah denied the allegations and claimed that her Instagram account had been hacked, suggesting that someone else had accessed her account without her knowledge and leaked the stories. She expressed her disappointment that Coleen chose to publicly accuse her without direct evidence.
The feud garnered significant media attention and sparked debates about privacy, social media, and the responsibilities of public figures. It also led to several discussions and memes online (naturally), with the term ‘WAGatha Christie’ referencing the detective novelist Agatha Christie and the mystery-solving nature of the situation.
What was the outcome between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney?
After Coleen took to social media to point the finger at Rebekah, the accused WAG sued the other for libel, saying the allegations meant she suffered “very serious harm to her reputation”.
Going to trial in 2022, Coleen and Rebekah’s legal battle received much international media coverage with the press examining their every move.
In the end, it was ruled that Coleen’s social media posts accusing Rebekah of leaking stories to the tabloid newspaper were substantially true.
The judge also ruled that Rebekah had to pay 90 per cent of Coleen’s legal costs, amounting to a maximum of £1.5 million (that’s nearly $3 million in AUD).
What is the Disney+ documentary about?
Titled Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, Disney+’s new series sets out to uncover one of the biggest tabloid news stories in Britain for the last decade, and reveals how Coleen found an explanation for why private stories concerning herself and her family continued to appear in the media.
“The three-part series looks at the circumstances that led to her infamous Instagram post that ‘broke the Internet’ all the way to Coleen successfully defending herself in one of the UK’s highest-profile High Court defamation cases of recent years,” the synopsis reads.
“As well as the case itself, we will explore how Coleen has had her life played out in public for the last 20 years. We know her as one of Britain’s most famous celebrities and wife of England’s record-scoring footballer Wayne Rooney.”
The series, directed and produced by BAFTA-nominee Lucy Bowden, will also feature interviews with family, friends and key players in the case.
Where to watch Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story in Australia
Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story will be available to stream only on Disney+, with a release date yet to be confirmed.
Although, according to British Vogue, we can expect the documentary to drop later this year. Stay tuned for more updates.
Stream Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story on Disney Plus with a mth-to-mth no lock-in contract. Subscribe here.
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