Coleen Rooney and her husband Wayne are reportedly fearful they will be quizzed over the fake gender selection story she invented as part of an elaborate sting.
The WAG, 34, planted the story that they were considering gender selection to have a baby girl as part of a series of false narratives about their family on her Instagram.
Coleen later released a statement saying that the story was among three viewed only by Rebekah’s account, after restricting access to everyone but her in order to get to the bottom of who was selling stories about her.
Concerned: Coleen Rooney and her husband Wayne are reportedly fearful they will be quizzed over the fake gender selection story she invented as part of an elaborate sting
Becky has strenuously denied that she was the source of the leak, and is now seeking £200,000 damages for libel after failing to receive an apology from Coleen.
The Rooney’s are now apparently concerned that they will be questioned on whether they ever mentioned gender selection to anyone, as well as intimate inquiries about their personal lives.
A source told the Sun: ‘The gender selection rumour is likely to be the focus of the case.
It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account! Coleen later released a statement saying that the story was among three viewed only by Rebekah’s account
‘It throws up all sorts of questions. Becky’s lawyers will be within their rights to ask intimate details about Coleen and Wayne’s marriage and physical relationship.
‘They could ask whether it was true at any stage, whether Coleen had spoken to friends about it. While Coleen wants to avoid that, it’s something she’s prepared to go through to try to win.’
Coleen, who is currently enjoying a break from the drama on a family holiday in Barbados, apparently plans to stand by her claims that the stories were leaked from Becky’s Instagram account.
Family time: Coleen, who is currently enjoying a break from the drama on a family holiday in Barbados, apparently plans to stand by her claims
A spokesman for Coleen told the publication that they wouldn’t be making a public comment at this time. MailOnline contacted them for comment.
Coleen was accused of leaking stories to the press by Rebekah earlier this month, after she told in a bombshell legal document how she had been left suicidal by the accusation that she had leaked stories about Coleen and her family.
She also claimed in the document drawn up for her libel battle against Coleen that the stress of the scandal had left her fearful of losing her unborn baby and suffering panic attacks that made her too scared to leave her home.
The I’m A Celeb star complained of being made a ‘scapegoat’ by her rival seeking to blame her for stories appearing when in the past Coleen had approved of her friends leaking gossip about her.
The document says Rebekah believes she ‘has deliberately been made a scapegoat (sic) by the Defendant (Coleen) for past ‘leaked’ stories.’
It points to previous stories about Coleen and Wayne with some ‘in particular about their marriage, which have in fact come from the Defendant’s friends, at times even with the Defendant’s approval.’
Denial: Coleen was accused of leaking stories to the press by Rebekah earlier this month (Rebekah pictured with husband Jamie)
The paper states that Sun journalist Dan Wootton had said on talkRADIO on October 19 last year that Coleen had ‘manipulated the media to tell stories about her own life’.
Wootton added that he had ‘written many, many stories’ about her marriage and ‘lots of other things around the Rooneys’ that had come directly from friends of Coleen including some told ‘with her (Coleen’s) approval’, says the document.
He went on to say on talkRADIO that nothing had ever come from ‘any of the Vardys’, it adds.
Claims: Rebekah describes in her document how Coleen’s public denunciation of her on Instagram while she was seven months pregnant had ‘gravely injured her reputation’
Rebekah describes in her document how Coleen’s public denunciation of her on Instagram while she was seven months pregnant had ‘gravely injured her reputation’.
Detailing how Coleen had ’caused her enormous distress and very extreme embarrassment’, she disclosed how she had been bombarded with abuse on social media.
Rebekah said that the widespread damage to her reputation was illustrated by research showing her name had become a more popular search term than ‘Brexit’ on Google in the UK on the day the scandal broke.
She also claimed that it led to her name appearing 276,822 times on Twitter on the same day, more than triple the number of mentions of Boris Johnson who had had his name published only 80,704 times.
The full statement: Coleen made these shock claims on Instagram after discovering she had been betrayed by someone close to her and she concluded that it was Rebekah’s account
Coleen made headlines around the world last October when she made her devastating claim that Rebekah had been leaking stories about her and her family to the Sun newspaper.
She released the statement: ‘It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain which account / individual it’s come from.
‘I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them. It’s ……………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.’
Rebekah immediately denied the claims and has since been fighting to clear her name and demands Coleen withdraw the claims against her.
‘I don’t need the money’: Rebekah denied all accusations against her minutes after the post and said she had nothing to gain and had no financial motivation – she also slammed her for going public when she is heavily pregnant