How do Coleen Rooney, Rebekah Vardy and Danielle Lloyd all know each other? A who’s who of the WAGs at war

Everything you need to know about the three women at the centre of the drama
Rachel McGrath11 October 2019
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

If you’ve been anywhere near the Internet, a radio or television then you’ll probably be at least a little aware of the ongoing WAG war.

On Wednesday afternoon, Coleen Rooney kicked off a row that has so far lasted two days, by claiming someone with access to Rebekah Vardy’s Instagram account has been leaking stories about her to the press.

Danielle Lloyd, Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy

Coleen, 33, is usually incredibly private and rarely speaks to the press - which made her decision to go public with her investigation and findings even more fascinating.

Within hours, the drama was all anyone - including our friends over in the States - could talk about and plenty of other stars have since chipped in.

Vardy and Rooney in the stands watching their husbands play for England
Splash News

But it’s been quite some time since “WAGs” - short for Wives and Girlfriends - hit the headlines, which means a refresher of who’s who is needed…

Coleen Rooney

Coleen Rooney - In pictures

1/50

Married to: Wayne Rooney

Kids? Four

The instigator of the drama, Coleen - or WAGatha Christie, as she will henceforth be known - is a gold tier member of the WAGs club.

Having met when they were both teenagers growing up in Liverpool, Coleen and Wayne got married in 2008, with a typically glitzy ceremony in Italy that featured in the pages of OK! magazine.

Coleen Rooney posted a long explanation about her marriage troubles with husband Wayne on Facebook (Instagram coleen_rooney )
Instagram coleen_rooney

They welcomed the first of their four sons a year after getting hitched.

Despite her husband’s high-profile role in the England football team, and the frequency at which he often ends up in the news, Coleen does her best to stay out of the limelight.

While she’s published a handful of books and signed deals with fashion brands, Coleen has never appeared on a reality TV show or pursued a career in the entertainment industry.

Rebekah Vardy

Rebekah Vardy - In pictures

1/30

Married to: Jamie Vardy

Kids? The couple has two children together and another on the way. Rebekah has another two kids from a previous relationship while the footballer has another daughter.

A newer addition to the WAGs club, Rebekah married Jamie in 2016 , just weeks after he led Leicester City to Premier League victory.

Jamie’s footballing glory and their glitzy wedding made the couple tabloid favourites and Rebekah was soon a celebrity in her own right, thanks to appearances on Loose Women and Good Morning Britain.

In 2017, she was a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Danielle Lloyd

Ian West/PA

Married to: Michael O’Neill, but Danielle earned her ‘WAG’ title back in 2012 when she married Jamie O’Hara. They divorced two years later.

Kids? Three sons with Jamie and one son with Michael.

Thanks to glamour modelling and a controversy-ridden stint in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Danielle was already a star in her own right when she got together with Jamie in 2009.

Their nuptials came just a year after the Rooneys’ but Jamie's career didn’t reach the same levels as Wayne’s and he never made the England squad.

O'Hara took part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2017
Ian West/PA

How do they know each other?

Let’s start with Coleen and Rebekah. Wayne and Jamie were at one point England teammates though it was previously reported that the pair did not get on.

In May 2016, then-England manager Roy Hodgson was forced to deny claims the two strikers were feuding behind the scenes, insisting to the press that the rumours were simply a “salacious story that someone has managed to spin.”

Rooney and Vardy in the stands
PA

With their husbands on the pitch, Coleen and Rebekah occasionally took their seats next to each other in the stands.

It is unclear if Danielle and Coleen were friends.

Judging from Friday’s posts, and her This Morning interview, it seems that she has had previous contact with Rebekah though.

Speaking on the TV show, Danielle claimed to have had “run-ins” with the mother-of-four while Rebekah hit back by accusing Danielle of asking her to “recruit” for her.

It has not been confirmed what she meant. A fresh source quote-laden report in the Sun claims Danielle wanted Rebekah to help her find a new footballer boyfriend. She has since denied the claim on Twitter.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in