Margaret Clayton / 28 November 2024 / Categories: Movie and TV Shows, TV Show

Coleen Rooney The Real Wagatha Story

What have I been doing? Where have I been? I honestly had no idea about Colleen Rooney, nee McLaughlin aside from she was married British footballer Wayne Rooney. I steer clear of the tabloids and gossip magazines, I am not a massive football fan and I don’t watch daytime TV so the famous Wag was off my radar, except for her association with luxury fashion retailer in Liverpool, Cricket, where I have shopped in the past. Our paths have never crossed.

I did see the libel case brought by Rebekah Vardy, wife of Leicester City and England player Jamie Vardy against Mrs Rooney a few years ago on the national news. The segment was fleeting and not of particular interest, I thought it was just two footballers wives having a bust up fuelled by the media.

A few nights ago the family watched one episode of this series and I have to say three nights later I am interested to see the story come to its conclusion.

Colleen Rooney comes across incredibly well. Polite, brave, reserved, direct, all qualities I admire deeply in a human being. The chilling part for me is how much of a role the media have played in the rollercoaster ride of a life the Rooney’s have experienced over the last 20 years or so, exacerbated by Mr. Rooney’s seeming inability to control the boozing and penchant for other women.

The first three episodes introduce the young couple when Coleen is still at school being chased by up and comer Rooney on an estate in Liverpool. The kind of story Disney made millions on only this time it was real. When Wayne Rooney at 16 became the youngest player for England and scored on his first appearance against Arsenal the writing was on the wall, the tabloid media went after them, hunting them down, jumping out of bushes baying for blood.

Colleen tells the story, with the press in the centre of a life built on Mr. Rooney’s extraordinary talent on the one hand and his bad behaviour on the other, all held together beautifully by the resilient, beautiful and demure, Colleen. And I do believe she is all these things. She presents herself convincingly backing up everything she says as she navigates and narrates the timeline with home video clips and personal posts to her private Instagram account.

It is obviously a fine dance to support her husband, take care of her 4 children, and navigate the pitfalls of a tabloid press skulking on every street corner ready and able to dismantle everything they have helped create with a single paparazzi shot, wrong place wrong time.

The documentary is more docustory/advertorial than hardcore film photo journalism but it does give a total expose on how tricky and sleazy tabloid journalists and I use that word loosely are. It is a compelling watch about our wider environment and how powerful the press are rarely with good motive.

Mrs Rooney has definitely avenged her libel suit brought against her by Mrs Vardy for outing her as the culprit selling private stories about the Rooney family to the Sun newspaper.

She has proven beyond a reasonable doubt ambitious Mrs Vardy was trading titbits with the editor in exchange for front page coverage in Fabulous Magazime. Whoops.

My only criticism would be, the series is heavily weighted in favour of Mrs Rooney’s account of events. A clear timeline painting Mrs Vardy the villain.

That said I know there are always three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth. For me the documentary would be more meaty if the Vardy’s side of events was also in the frame for perspective and balance.

Ah yes I forgot, it’s ITV.

Well done Colleen. I am sure this took great courage. You have been treated very badly and not just by Mrs Vardy.