Rebekah Vardy: Wagatha Christie Trial and Family Life

Few celebrity libel battles have gripped the public quite like the Wagatha Christie saga. Even after the trial ended, the financial fallout has kept Rebekah Vardy in the headlines—in 2024, a High Court judge ordered her to pay another £100,000 toward Coleen Rooney’s legal costs.

Age: 42 (born 17 February 1982) ·
Spouse: Jamie Vardy (married 2016) ·
Children: 5 ·
Instagram followers: 373K ·
Known for: Wagatha Christie trial, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (2017)

Below is a quick overview of Rebekah Vardy’s key details.

What has happened to Rebekah Vardy?

Overview of the Wagatha Christie case

• In 2019, Coleen Rooney published a now-famous Instagram post accusing Rebekah Vardy of leaking stories about her to The Sun. Rooney’s post concluded with the line: “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account.” The phrase became the basis for the “Wagatha Christie” nickname.
• Vardy sued Rooney for libel. The case went to trial in July 2022 at the High Court in London.
• Justice Steyn ruled in favour of Rooney in December 2022, finding that the leak accusation was “substantially true.”

“It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

Coleen Rooney, Instagram, 2019

Court ruling and outcome

• The judge determined that Vardy had knowingly sent stories to The Sun via her agent, and that Rooney’s accusation was therefore not defamatory.
• Vardy was ordered to pay 90% of Rooney’s legal costs. BBC News reported that the initial costs payment of £800,000 was due by 15 November 2022 (BBC News).
• The legal battle has been described as one of the most expensive modern UK celebrity libel sagas (Evening Standard).

Public reaction and media coverage

• The case became a national talking point, inspiring memes, merchandise, and a stage play.
• Media coverage in 2024 shifted focus from the trial itself to the ongoing costs dispute, as Vardy continued to challenge the amount she was required to pay (ITV News).
• LBC reported that Rooney’s legal bill, as claimed by her lawyers, had reached £1,833,906.89 (LBC).

How much money does Rebekah Vardy owe Coleen Rooney?

Legal costs awarded

• The original judgement ordered Vardy to pay 90% of Rooney’s legal costs. BBC News reported that the initial payment was set at £800,000, due by 15 November 2022.
• By October 2024, the total legal costs claimed by Rooney’s legal team had risen to approximately £1.8 million (BBC News).
• ITV News reported that a High Court judge ordered Vardy to pay an additional £100,000 toward Rooney’s costs in October 2024 (ITV News).

Estimated total owed

• BBC reporting suggests the wider Wagatha case could leave Vardy with a combined bill of more than £3 million once her own legal costs are included (BBC News).
• The October 2024 hearing was described as resolving disputes over claimed legal costs that had initially been much lower before being escalated through assessment (Evening Standard).
• A specialist costs judge handled the detailed assessment of the case costs in 2024 (Wikipedia).

Payment arrangements

• The £800,000 payment was ordered to be made within 28 days of the December 2022 ruling.
• Vardy has publicly stated financial difficulties, though the exact sum still outstanding is unclear.
• The ongoing costs battle suggests Vardy has not yet paid the full amount demanded by Rooney’s legal team (LBC).

Are Jamie Vardy and Rebekah still together?

Marriage timeline

• Rebekah and Jamie Vardy married in a ceremony at Peckforton Castle in May 2016 (OK!).
• They have three children together (OK!).
• Jamie Vardy also has a daughter, Ella, from a previous relationship.

Public appearances together

• The couple have continued to appear publicly together throughout the trial and its aftermath.
• In late 2024, Rebekah spoke about the strain the case had placed on family life, telling the Daily Mirror that the children were sad around Christmas.
• No public statements from either party have suggested a separation.

Recent statements

• Rebekah Vardy has been open about the emotional toll. In a late 2024 interview, she described the experience as “traumatic” for the whole family (Daily Mirror).
• Despite the pressure, the marriage appears intact. The couple continue to co-parent a blended household of five children.

“The children were sad around Christmas.”

Rebekah Vardy, Daily Mirror, 2024

The pattern: The Vardys have weathered a very public legal disaster without visible cracks in their relationship. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been private strains — Rebekah’s own comments suggest real difficulty — but the public evidence points to a marriage that has held.

How many husbands has Rebekah Vardy had?

First husband: Stephen Miranda

• Before Jamie Vardy, Rebekah was married to Stephen Miranda.
• The couple had one daughter together.
• Details about the marriage and divorce are not widely publicised, reflecting Rebekah’s lower profile before her relationship with Jamie Vardy.

Second husband: Jamie Vardy

• Rebekah married Jamie Vardy in 2016 (Wikipedia).
• They have three biological children together.
• Jamie Vardy’s daughter Ella from a previous relationship is also part of the household (Footboom).

Children from each marriage

• Rebekah Vardy has five children in total (Wikipedia).
• Her eldest child — a daughter from her marriage to Stephen Miranda — is now a teenager.
• The couple’s three children together are younger, and Jamie’s daughter Ella visits as part of the blended family.

The catch: The public knows much less about Rebekah’s first marriage than her second. That information gap means accounts of her “five children” can be imprecise — it is not always clear which children belong to which relationship, and the family prefers to keep that private.

Why didn’t Jamie Vardy’s parents go to his wedding?

Jamie Vardy’s relationship with his parents

• Jamie Vardy has had a well-documented rift with his parents for many years.
• His mother and father did not attend his wedding to Rebekah Vardy in 2016.
• The estrangement pre-dates his marriage and has been a subject of media interest given his fame.

Reasons for estrangement

• Public comments from family members suggest the rift stems from a combination of personal disagreements and the pressures of his rapid rise from non-league football to the Premier League.
• Neither Jamie nor Rebekah have given a detailed public account of why the estrangement occurred.
• His mother has given interviews expressing sadness about the distance between them (Daily Mirror).

Public comments from family

• In media interviews, Jamie’s mother has spoken about not being involved in her son’s life or the lives of his children.
• The absence of his parents from the wedding was widely reported at the time, and the situation has not visibly changed since.
• Rebekah Vardy has mentioned the family strain in broader context, tying it to the emotional difficulty of the trial period.

What this means: For Jamie Vardy, the absence of his parents at his wedding is not a one-off snub — it is a symptom of a long-term estrangement that has never been resolved. For the public, it remains a missing piece in the narrative of a footballer who otherwise projects stability.

Does Jamie Vardy see his daughter Ella?

Jamie Vardy’s daughter Ella from previous relationship

• Jamie Vardy has a daughter, Ella, from a previous relationship.
• Ella was born before Jamie’s relationship with Rebekah and before his rise to Premier League prominence.
• Public reports indicate that Jamie maintains an active role in Ella’s life (Footboom).

Custody and visitation

• Specific custody arrangements have not been made public.
• Ella is known to visit the Vardy household and is included in the broader blended family dynamic.
• Rebekah Vardy’s social media content has occasionally shown family gatherings that include Ella.

Role as stepfather to Rebekah’s children

• Jamie Vardy is also a stepfather to Rebekah’s eldest daughter from her first marriage.
• He has been described as a “stepdad” to that child, with the household functioning as a blended unit (Footboom).
• The combined family includes Jamie’s daughter Ella, Rebekah’s daughter from her first marriage, and three children they share together — five children in total (Wikipedia).

The trade-off: Blended families require negotiation at the best of times. Add the financial pressure and media scrutiny of the Wagatha Christie case, and that complexity only grows. Jamie’s role as both a biological father and stepfather means he balances two sets of parenting expectations — one very public, one mostly private.

Timeline signal

• 2016 — Married Jamie Vardy (OK!)
• 2017 — Appeared on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
• 2019 — Coleen Rooney publicly accused Rebekah of leaking stories (“Wagatha Christie” post)
• July 2022 — High Court libel trial began (BBC News)
• December 2022 — Judge ruled in favour of Coleen Rooney; Vardy ordered to pay costs (BBC News)
• October 2024 — High Court judge ordered Vardy to pay a further £100,000 toward Rooney’s costs (ITV News)

Frequently asked questions