Coleen Rooney has reportedly refused to apologise to Rebekah Vardy as peace talks between the pair broke down yet again on Thursday.
Sources claimed the WAG, 34, is keen to avoid their legal battle reaching the High Court and sees it as a ‘huge waste of money’ after accusing the wife of Leicester City star Jamie Vardy of leaking stories about her to the press.
On Thursday Rebekah and Coleen met in an intense face-to-face mediation on Zoom as they attempted to settle their high-profile dispute, but failed to come to a resolution.
I’m not saying sorry! Coleen Rooney has reportedly refused to apologise to Rebekah Vardy as peace talks between the pair broke down yet again on Thursday
A source told The Sun: ‘Coleen is refusing to apologise and is keen to settle this out of court.
‘She’s made it clear to her team that this is all just a huge waste of money in her eyes and that they could resolve it with a statement and a donation to charity. She wants proper mediation.
‘Becky however is adamant she’s not done anything wrong and wants an apology, along with the posts put on social media by Coleen deleted.’
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy for comment.
Drama: Sources claimed Coleen is keen to avoid their legal battle reaching the High Court after accusing Rebekah of leaking stories about her to the press
Going nowhere: On Thursday Rebekah and Coleen met in an intense face-to-face mediation on Zoom as they attempted to settle their high-profile dispute, but failed to come to a resolution
On Thursday Rebekah and Coleen met via Zoom for more meditation talks, and were accompanied by their lawyers as they attempted to find an agreement without having to go to court.
Proceedings began with both sides reading out a statement and then breaking off into separate virtual rooms as the mediator spoke to the Wags and their legal representatives independently.
However it’s thought that the meeting ended at an impasse, with both sides failing to come to a resolution, meaning more talks will take place in the coming weeks.
The mediation was ordered by a High Court judge at a hearing last November, with both women given a deadline of 8 February to try and reach agreement.
Accusation: Rebekah was accused by her former friend of leaking false stories about her personal life to the media last year
If they remain in deadlock, then the matter will be settled at a full trial expected to take place later this year.
Rebekah launched a £1m High Court libel action after Coleen accused her in an October 2019 Instagram post of being the source of leaks to the media.
Going into the crunch talks, it was revealed that Coleen has handed Rebekah an ‘olive branch’ and made her an offer to ‘agree to disagree’ as they head into mediation.
The row between the high-profile Wags erupted after Coleen revealed that she had set a trap to see who was responsible for them, which earned her the nickname ‘Wagatha Christie’ as the row between the two Wags simmered, culminating in legal action.
In November, the High Court ruled Coleen’s post ‘clearly identified’ Becky as being ‘guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust’ – but minutes later she hit back with a statement via her representative, saying she was ‘keen’ to hear what her rival has to say in court.
Drama: Passions remain high between the two Wags, with Rebekah adamant that Coleen should apologise and delete her accusatory post (pictured with Jamie in 2017)
The ruling related to the wording in the final sentence of the post, with the former reality star claiming she simply referred to Becky’s Instagram account.
But the judge said an ordinary reader would not take the word ‘account’ to ‘indicate that she remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was’.
He also disagreed with her claim that using multiple ellipses in the final line diluted the meaning.
This means the court has no doubt as to who the accusation was made against – Becky – which will be a consideration if the libel case goes to trial this year.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Warby said Coleen’s message was ‘a considered post, using wording composed with some care’, adding: ‘It would be clear to the ordinary reader from the outset that it was meant seriously and intended to convey a message of some importance.’
Ongoing: Coleen (pictured with Wayne in 2016) said she discovered the alleged betrayal by carrying out a months-long ‘sting operation’
He wrote: ‘Indeed, the element of suspense introduced by the multiple dots seems to me designed to raise expectations of a dramatic revelation.
‘It tends to emphasise the importance of the name that is then provided. It would be a poor denouement if all that was being said was that the named individual was to be suspected of the wrongdoing but it might be someone else.
‘The reader is told straight away that the message is about bad behaviour by ‘someone who I trusted’. The post then takes the form of a ‘whodunnit’.’
He added: ‘I certainly do not think that the ordinary reader would take that single word (account), albeit repeated, to indicate that Mrs Rooney remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was.
‘There is nothing in these words, apart from the word ‘account’, that in any way suggests that the behaviour of which Mrs Rooney is complaining might have been carried out by anyone other than the account holder, Mrs Vardy.’