The Origins of the Wagatha Christie Libel Case

The legal battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, now widely known as the high-profile Wagatha Christie libel case, continues to make headlines into 2025. The saga began in 2019 when Rooney, the wife of former England striker Wayne Rooney, accused Vardy of leaking private Instagram content to journalists. The post, published to Rooney’s social media, concluded with the now-famous line, “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account,” and sparked intense public interest.

The media quickly dubbed the case the Wagatha Christie trial, playing on Rooney’s investigative tactics and the public’s fascination with the lives of footballers’ wives. Vardy sued Rooney for libel, launching a costly legal battle that culminated in a 2022 trial. The court ruled in Rooney’s favour, finding her allegations were substantially true and ordering Vardy to pay 90 per cent of Rooney’s legal costs.

Vardy vs Rooney Legal Costs Dispute

After the judgment, the amount of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs became a contentious issue. The original 1.8m legal bill, specifically a legal bill of £1,833,906.89, was submitted by Rooney’s legal team. This figure was immediately challenged by Vardy’s side, who described the legal bill as substandard and grossly disproportionate, especially given the original budgeted sum of approximately £540,000.

Lawyers on both sides were heavily criticised. It was noted that there had been extraordinary expenditure of costs by the parties, prompting scrutiny from the courts. The specialist costs court was tasked with resolving the matter, reflecting the complexity and scale of the legal fees involved.

Rebekah Vardy Agrees to Pay £1.2m of Coleen Rooney’s Legal Costs

In May 2025, it was confirmed that Rebekah Vardy agreed to pay £1.2m of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs. This payment comprised approximately £1.125 million in fees and an additional £65,000 in interest. However, the dispute did not end there. Further costs related to the assessment and management of the legal bill remained unresolved.

The parties returned to the specialist costs court for a further ruling. Costs Judge Mark Whalan presided over the hearing, which both parties attended remotely. During this session, Judge Whalan reviewed the outstanding assessment costs and the overall conduct of the case.

Judge Whalan’s Decision and Further Payments

At the remote hearing, Costs Judge Mark Whalan ruled that an additional £212,266.20 should be paid by Vardy to cover the costs of the assessment process. This amount, inclusive of VAT, pushed the total sum Vardy was liable for to at least £1.4 million. In his ruling, Judge Whalan was highly critical of the spending by both legal teams and remarked that the lawyers had exhibited extraordinary expenditure of costs for both parties. He noted that while the case was high-profile, the legal costs incurred were far beyond what would usually be expected in a libel case.

The judge hoped this ruling would bring the matter to a close and expressed concern about the excessive nature of the spending throughout the proceedings.

Robin Dunne and the Defence of Rooney’s Costs

During the hearings, Robin Dunne, counsel for Rooney, played a pivotal role in defending the submitted legal costs. He argued that Vardy was the author of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs due to her persistence in pursuing the libel claim and refusal to settle or cooperate early in the process. Dunne rejected criticisms of the legal bill and claimed the approach taken by Rooney’s legal team was necessary given the circumstances of the Wagatha Christie trial.

He argued that the amount of Coleen Rooney’s legal costs was a direct result of Vardy’s strategy throughout the proceedings, and that Rooney, the wife of Wayne Rooney, had every right to mount a full and robust defence against the libel claim.

How can ARC Costs Assist?

ARC Costs are an experienced and independent team of specialised Costs Draftsmen and Costs Lawyers. We assist both paying and receiving parties in resolving costs disputes, and are adept at preparing Costs Budgets and Bill of Costs for receiving parties, as well as providing legal costs negotiations services and preparing Points of Reply.

For paying parties, we are adept at preparing Points of Dispute, and ensuring that a proportionate level of costs is recovered. Proportionality is a subjective issue, and it is therefore important you have the right legal costs representative on your side during detailed assessment to ensure you make the most persuasive submissions on the issue.  

Should you require any assistance or free initial advice, please call us on 01204 397302, or email one of our costs experts direct on info@arccosts.co.uk.