How Much Money’s At Stake In Wagatha Christie Trial
10 May 2022, 12:52
Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy’s court case has begun, and it’s costing the famous ladies a fortune.
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Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy’s infamous ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial has begun in the High Court, where Rebekah is suing Coleen for libel.
The trial between the stars – formerly friends who would support their husbands Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy when they played football together – is set to last seven days.
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Now, Coleen and Rebekah are at war in a civil case where their legal costs could outweigh any winning fortune at the end.
Media lawyer Jonathan Coad explained here that he estimates the legal costs for each side to be over £1million.
Even the winner of the case will only recover about 70% of their legal bill, leaving them with £300k still to pay.
He explains that if any damages are awarded, it’ll only be between £15,000 to £40,000.
"It makes no sense for either of them. Even the winner is going to come out with a massive loss,” Mr Coad added, saying that it all comes down to ‘a determination to be right.’
The civil case dates back to October 2019 after Coleen believed someone was leaking private information about her and her family to the tabloids and started an investigation of her own to figure out who might be behind it.
Over the course of a few months she made things up on Instagram Stories on her personal account, restricting who could read them.
The tales included a trip to Mexico for gender selection so their next child would be a girl, how she was in discussion for Strictly Come Dancing and even a story about her basement flooding.
Coleen later took to Twitter to explain she’d ‘blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram Stories except one account’ before delivering the now-iconic line: “It’s……. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Vardy denies being the leak, calling Coleen almost immediately to tell her she’s innocent, claiming a number of people have access to her social media accounts.
She decided to sue Coleen for libel in June 2020.
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