The victor of the Wagatha Christie trial has been revealed and it’s… NOT Rebekah Vardy.
In a viral social media post in October 2019, Coleen Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a months-long “sting operation” and accused Mrs Vardy, 40, of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.
The wife of former England footballer Wayne Rooney publicly claimed Mrs Vardy’s account was the source behind three stories in The Sun newspaper featuring fake details she had posted on her private Instagram stories.
READ MORE: Wagatha Christie: Rebekah Vardy loses High Court libel case against Coleen Rooney
READ MORE: Vardy v Rooney: Read WhatsApp messages between Rebekah & agent
Mrs Vardy, who is married to Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, denied leaking stories to the media and sued her fellow footballer’s wife for libel, while Mrs Rooney defended the claim on the basis that her post was “substantially true”.
In a much-anticipated ruling on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn found in Mrs Rooney’s favour and dismissed the claim against her.
Following the judgment, Twitter reacted in its uniquely hilarious fashion. Here are 11 of the top Tweets on the subject:
Keeping us in suspense a little longer was Lee Newman, putting a football spin on the announcement…
"there's been a result at the High court today, but for who Chris Kamara"??#wagathachristie#rooney#vardy pic.twitter.com/aA8mHxOpB9
— Lee Newman 💙 (@Leenewman1977) July 29, 2022
And the best ‘reveal pic’ has to go to Twitter user Sarah Louise. Maybe she’d have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky kids…
She did it #wagathachristie what a queen Coleen ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/0stqIUOi6G
— Sarah Louise (@sarahlrobinson_) July 29, 2022
In her 76-page judgment, Mrs Justice Steyn said Mrs Vardy’s evidence was “manifestly inconsistent” with contemporaneous documentary evidence on “many occasions”.
The judge added: “I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Mrs Vardy’s evidence with very considerable caution.”
In response, one user posted this little gem…
The judge to Rebekah Vardy during their ruling#WagathaChristie pic.twitter.com/UYNc5WbliQ
— Dame Dot CottonCandy, Duchess of Pulp are back🇵🇸 (@comagirlx) July 29, 2022
Opticians Specsavers got in on the action with this Tweet referring to the court sketch of Mrs Vardy…
We’d like to speak to the sketch room artist on the #WagathaChristie case pic.twitter.com/MkdNI6vysS
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) July 29, 2022
Mrs Justice Steyn also found it was “likely” that Mrs Vardy deliberately deleted her WhatsApp chat with Ms Watt and that Ms Watt deliberately dropped her phone into the North Sea shortly after it was ordered to be searched.
There have been many references to this part of the judgement. This one considering Vardy’s reputation…
Rebekah Vardy's reputation is sinking faster than a phone filled with incriminating WhatsApp messages in the North Sea #wagathachristie
— Lou Ali (@Lou_LouD) May 12, 2022
And this one warning of the dangers of using mobiles at sea…
Piece of advice for Rebekah vardy next time she or her PA venture out on a boat trip with their phones #wagathachristie pic.twitter.com/htMPhWDQFS
— Cici (@cicisaysso) July 29, 2022
There have also been numerous mentions of the other major celebrity trial of the year when Johnny Depp sued his former wife, Amber Hurd, for defamation…
Johnny Depp now plays the winner of Coleen Rooney vs Rebekah Vardy in the final.
— Tim Bolton (@TimBolton01) June 1, 2022
Now people have started turning their attention to a dramatization of the trial and who the cast should be made up of.
This one naming who they would like to play the footballers’ wives…
Now the #wagathachristie verdict is in, can we get on with the TV drama please?
— Ian Hyland (@HylandIan) July 29, 2022
Jodie Comer as Rooney, Suranne Jones as Vardy.
No substitutes allowed.
And this one also naming who they would cast for the pair’s famous husbands too.
My cast for the ITV televised version of #wagathachristie gate.
— Modhabobo (@Modhabobo) July 29, 2022
Jodie = Colleen Rooney
Sandra = Rebekah Vardy
Stephen = Wayne Rooney
Albert Steptoe = Jamie Vardy pic.twitter.com/veY0Duqaqt
After the judgement, Mrs Vardy said: “It is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s finding.
“The judge accepted that publication of Coleen’s post was not in the ‘public interest’ and she also rejected her claim that I was the ‘Secret Wag’. But as for the rest of her judgment, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept.”
The TV personality reiterated that she and her family – including her then unborn baby – were sent “vile abuse” after the viral post and during the trial.
“Please can the people who have been abusing me and my family now stop. The case is over,” she added.
In her own statement following the judgment, Mrs Rooney welcomed her victory and said she had “no ill-will” towards Mrs Vardy.
She said: “It was not a case I ever sought or wanted. I never believed it should have gone to court at such expense in times of hardship for so many people when the money could have been far better spent helping others.
“Both before and after my social media posts in October 2019, I made every effort to avoid the need for such a drawn-out and public court case.
“All my attempts to do so were knocked back by Mrs Vardy.”
It is believed the total legal costs of the case will be in the region of £3 million, most of which will now be borne by Mrs Vardy.
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