Rebekah Vardy has sensationally blamed her agent for leaking stories about Coleen Rooney, telling the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel battle she feels ‘betrayed’ that her ‘close friend and confident’ may have been responsible.
The staggering twist to the £3million libel trial came as Ms Vardy submitted a new witness statement in which she appeared to suggest Caroline Watt was the source of leaks to The Sun.
Ms Vardy states: ‘The idea that my close friend and confidante would betray me in this way seems unbelievable to me and almost impossible to accept.
‘I have thought about this very carefully. I find it very hard to accept that Caroline would deceive me in this way. I do not know what to think.
‘I do not know what role Caroline played in relation to those articles which appear to come from Coleen’s private Instagram, but I have to accept that it is possible that she may have had some form of involvement that I don’t know about.’
Ms Vardy, 40, is suing Ms Rooney, 35, for libel after being accused by her of leaking ‘false stories’ about the Rooneys in October 2019.
She claimed to have uncovered the culprit following a social media sting operation and publicly named her fellow WAG, while earning the nickname ‘Wagatha Christie.’
As their legal battle raged, it was also argued that Ms Watt had acted as a ‘conduit’, which she and Ms Vardy vehemently denied.
Rebekah Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt at the National Television Awards at London’s O2 Arena on January 19, 2019
Ms Watt has completely withdrawn from the case and will not give evidence on account of her ‘fragile’ mental health.
The explosive trial is to start on May 9. Ms Vardy, 40, is suing Ms Rooney, 35, (pictured) for libel after being accused by her of leaking ‘false stories’ about the Rooneys in October 2019
In her statement, Ms Vardy adds: ‘I am devastated by all this. Not only have I been libelled by Coleen but I have had to face it that my close friend has been involved with this, and she is in such a fragile state that I can’t even address it with her properly.
‘All I know is that Caroline finds discussing the case seriously detrimental to her health, and that she has maintained to me that it was not her, and I now cannot press her at all for any further explanation in terms of the new developments.’
Lawyers for Ms Rooney claimed in a court document that the turnaround in Ms Vardy’s position has been ‘remarkable’ and that she has now been ‘forced to come clean’ – an allegation to Ms Vardy’s lawyers are likely to deny.
The document by Ms Rooney’s legal team at the High Court today states: ‘The collapse of Ms Vardy’s case over the last day has been remarkable.
‘As of the evening of 27 April 2022, in an abrupt change of position to her pleaded case since the outset, Mrs Vardy appears now to accept Mrs Rooney’s case: that Caroline Watt, Ms Vardy’s close friend and PR, was the conduit by which stories from the Defendant’s Private Instagram Account were leaked to The Sun through her access via Rebekah Vardy’s account (@beckyvardy).’
It adds: ‘It is only now-over two weeks later and on the eve of trial-that Mrs Vardy has been forced to come clean.’
Ms Vardy said that she was forced to change her statement after being informed by a solicitor representing the three Sun journalists that they would indicate that Ms Watt was the source of the stories.
Her statement says that Ms Vardy and Ms Watt had initially signed a legal waiver, which would have allowed the journalists to name their source for the stories.
Ms Vardy and Ms Rooney watching England play Wales at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, France, during the 2016 Euros
But Ms Vardy says that Ms Watt has now withdrawn her waiver, which would have allowed the journalists to name her in court.
She states: ‘I had understood that the Sun journalists involved would confirm that the stories which they had written were not based on information provided by me or by Caroline.
‘I was absolutely sure that the Sun journalists would make it clear that I was not the source of any of the stories which were said to come from Coleen’s Private Instagram.
‘This is because I was not the source. I was happy to sign a Waiver of any “source protection rights” which I would have had.’
She adds: ‘I was reassured that the journalists would give the evidence I expected.’
After being informed by their solicitor that they would name Ms Watt, Ms Vardy says in her statement: ‘I was shocked and horrified. My first reaction was total disbelief.
‘Later that day, I spoke to Caroline and she strenuously denied it. I did not know what to think.
‘Then, later that day, my solicitors were informed by Caroline’s husband that her waiver of source protection and her witness statement should be withdrawn. The reason he gave for this was related to her deteriorating health.’
Ms Vardy also reveals that it was Ms Watt’s idea for her to claim that a company also had access to her Instagram account as a way of explaining the leaks after she was named by Ms Rooney in social media post.
Ms Vardy states: ‘It was Caroline who alerted me to Coleen’s post. She suggested that I should say that I had allowed a company to access my Instagram account for sponsored posts and a former social media agency that I worked with.
‘This was not true but, as I said in my first witness statement (at paragraph 21) it seemed clear to me at the time that Caroline was just trying to shield me.’
Ms Vardy also details her friendship with Ms Watt.
She states: ‘As I said there, she began as my agent and soon became my friend. As the disclosed WhatsApp messages show we had a close personal relationship.
‘She had access to a lot of my private information and communications. I have always had great trust in her.’
The allegations about the marked change in Ms Vardy’s position emerged as lawyers for both WAGS appeared at the High Court to argue over an application by three Sun journalists for them not to appear at the high-profile trial.
The explosive trial is to start on May 9.
Vardy (left, with her husband Jamie) is suing Coleen Rooney (right, with husband Wayne Rooney) for libel
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