Wagatha Christie: Rebekah Vardy and agent discussed leaking Riyad Mahrez training story to press, court told
‘The lads are fuming,’ court told she texted agent
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Your support makes all the difference.Rebekah Vardy and her agent spoke about whether to leak a story about then-Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez missing a training session, a court has heard.
The lawyer for Coleen Rooney - who is locked in a libel battle with the fellow footballer’s wife - challenged Ms Vardy on messages with Caroline Watt on Wednesday.
“You message Caroline Watt at 11:26 in the morning on the 1 February. You say Mahrez has not turned up to training again. The lads are fuming,” he said.
The High Court was told the agent suggested leaking the information to a sports reporter.
It heard Ms Vardy told Ms Watt: “I just don’t want it coming back on me.”
Ms Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denied an accusation the agent passed information to The Sun about this “fuming” reaction,
The 40-year-old also told the court she did not know if this was how they actually felt about Mahrez missing training - something which was subject to speculation at the time.
“It was probably something I was plucking from thin air. It was just a gossip that was all,” she told the court.
Ms Vardy has taken Ms Rooney, the wife of former England star Wayne Rooney, to court after being accused of leaking “false stories” to the press.
The allegation was made by Ms Rooney in a social media post which detailed a “sting” operation which attempted to find the source of the leaks. The finger was pointed at Ms Vardy when Ms Rooney finished the post with: “It’s...... Rebekah Vardy’s account.”
Ms Vardy denies this allegation and is suing Ms Rooney for libel.
The first day of the trial kicked off on Tuesday, with Ms Vardy taking the witness stand in the afternoon. She repeatedly denied leaking information to newspapers, saying: “I have been called a leaker and it’s not nice.”
Peter Andre also got a surprise mention on the opening day.
Ms Rooney’s barrister, David Sherborne, asked Ms Vardy whether she respected people’s privacy. Shortly after, he asked her about an interview about an alleged sexual encounter with the singer, reading out the headline: “Peter’s hung like a small chipolata, shaved, slobbery, lasts five minutes.”
Ms Vardy said she “deeply regrets” the situation and claimed she was “forced” into it by her ex-husband.