{"id":620765,"date":"2026-09-19T06:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T06:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/620765\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T06:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T06:54:13","slug":"weve-been-on-a-good-run-lately-weve-not-had-a-row-for-weeks-coleen-and-wayne-rooney-on-marriage-mistakes-and-making-reality-tv-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/620765\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019ve been on a good run lately. We\u2019ve not had a row for weeks!\u2019: Coleen and Wayne Rooney on marriage, mistakes and making reality TV | Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you\u2019d said to me 10 years ago, \u2018You\u2019re going to be doing a TV show about the family\u2019, I would have said, \u2018No chance\u2019,\u201d Wayne Rooney<\/a> says. Few would have disagreed. After all, he and his wife Coleen had spent their adult lifetime running away from the public gaze. And not very successfully, at that.<\/p>\n

Wayne, a wonderful footballer with the strength of a bull and agility of an acrobat, was often back-page news. He scored 253 goals for Manchester United (overtaking Bobby Charlton\u2019s record), 53 for England (the record until Harry Kane surpassed him in 2023), is still England\u2019s youngest goal scorer (17 years and 317 days), won five Premier League titles, was twice young player of the year and was voted player of the year by both his peers and football journalists in 2009\/10.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the front pages that have caused him the bother. His off-pitch scandals have been even more newsworthy than his on-pitch triumphs. As with his football, he showed a precocious talent for hogging the headlines with stories about drunkenness and debauchery.<\/p>\n

As for Coleen, she was happily living life, bringing up their four children at Rooney Mansions until she ended up the biggest news story of the lot. When posts from her private Instagram were repeatedly leaked to the Sun, she took on the role of amateur sleuth quite brilliantly, eventually discovering that fellow footballer\u2019s wife Rebekah Vardy was the culprit. After Coleen outed her on Insta<\/a> in 2019, Vardy sued and the resultant court case became known as the Wagatha Christie trial (Wags being the tabloid diminutive for wives and girlfriends of footballers). Coleen won the publicity war, the popularity contest and ultimately the court case.<\/p>\n

Far from seeking these headlines, the couple would have done anything to avoid them. They regarded the reporting on their private lives as gross intrusions. So why on earth would they now agree to invade their own privacy for a Disney+ TV series called The Real Rooneys?<\/p>\n

double quotation markPeople have seen us in the papers since we were 16, and a lot of people have made their mind up: that\u2019s him, that\u2019s her, that\u2019s what they\u2019re like Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Well, they say, it\u2019s time to put the record straight. \u201cPeople have seen us in the papers since we were 16, and a lot of people have made their mind up; that\u2019s him, that\u2019s her, that\u2019s what they\u2019re like,\u201d Wayne says.<\/p>\n

What conclusions did they reach? \u201cThere was a perception of me, obviously from things that have happened off the pitch. And there\u2019s been me on the pitch \u2013 a very aggressive player, certainly early on in my career.\u201d Don\u2019t do yourself down, I say, you were also fantastically skilful. He laughs, bashfully. \u201cI know, but people have a perception of me and it\u2019s hard for them to look beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what do they think you\u2019re like? He grins. \u201cAn arsehole, basically.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to spend long with Wayne to see how different he is from the way he is seen by the public. Or perhaps more accurately to the way he was seen, until a gentle, thoughtful and straight-talking Rooney emerged as a Match of the Day pundit. And you don\u2019t have to spend long with Coleen to see how different she is from him: just as likable, but more businesslike. You get the impression that without Coleen around, the kids might not get to school, diaries would be left unfilled and the house un-run.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re at a photo studio in London. Coleen is studiously going through the clothes, while Wayne is looking out of the window, studying the primary school kids playing seven-a-side. You sense he\u2019d like to get out there for a kickabout. \u201cYou need to be so patient with kids that age,\u201d he says. \u201cAll they want to do is score goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne looks fit \u2013 much more so than a year ago when he seemed as if he was beginning to let himself go. He\u2019s shorter than you might expect (5ft 9in) and broad, shaped like a nine-volt battery. He has a touch of the superhero about him. Coleen is elegant and smiley; less wary than she often comes across in paparazzi shots.<\/p>\n

So what are the real Rooneys like? Coleen goes first. \u201cWayne is funny and laid-back. He can be a charmer, but can have a short temper. Would you agree?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cErm, the first three.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sparks his temper?<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cHe can be impatient, waiting around for things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cFor you. When we\u2019re getting up to go somewhere, I\u2019m always early. If we\u2019re getting picked up to go somewhere and we\u2019re leaving the house at 6pm, I\u2019ll be ready by 5.15-5.30.\u201d<\/p>\n

At what point does he get irritated?<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cWhen I\u2019m still running around cleaning the house at 5.30.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever won an argument with her Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cWhat I say to Coleen is, \u2018Why don\u2019t we pretend we\u2019re leaving at 5?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Does it work?<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cNo, because I\u2019ve booked the car to go out!\u201d She laughs.<\/p>\n

In the show Wayne gets his own back when he goes off playing golf with friends. She calls for him because they\u2019re heading for a break in Scotland, and he leaves her waiting for ages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just having a bevvy with the boys in the clubhouse,\u201d Wayne says now. \u201cIt\u2019s an etiquette of old.\u201d<\/p>\n

How long did he leave Coleen waiting?<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cTwenty minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t. It was a couple of hours. And it was someone he doesn\u2019t even know. It wasn\u2019t a close friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cThat\u2019s the only time I\u2019ve been late, isn\u2019t it, when you think about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cIt\u2019s not the lateness, it\u2019s the fact that he didn\u2019t acknowledge it. Like, I\u2019m late, and he knows about it. When I\u2019m late and he\u2019s waiting for me, I will do everything \u2013 get the kids\u2019 clothes ready for the next day, cleaning, prepping and then I\u2019ll think, \u2018Oh shit, it\u2019s half five, I better go and get myself ready now.\u2019 And he\u2019ll be like, \u2018Why didn\u2019t you get ready earlier?\u2019 And it\u2019s because I was sorting everything else out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do they row much? \u201cTo be honest, I can\u2019t remember the last time,\u201d Wayne says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been on a good run lately, haven\u2019t we? We\u2019ve not had a row for weeks and weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when they do row, how bad does it get?<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cIt\u2019s more you shouting at me and me just taking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cHe goes quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cI\u2019m never going to win the argument. If I start arguing back, it will just continue, so I\u2019m man enough to accept it; let her get it off her chest. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever won an argument with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the show, one of their boys says when Coleen gets angry with Wayne she throws a shoe at him. Is that true? She smiles. \u201cI think one time I might have,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Wayne\u2019s fans tend to call him Wazza. His oldest friends call him Jimmy (because as a kid when he scored he\u2019d celebrate with a cartwheel as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink did). What does Coleen call him? \u201cWayne.\u201d And when she\u2019s angry with him? \u201cA knob.\u201d She hoots joyously.<\/p>\n

You can see why the Rooneys make for good reality TV from the way they talk to each other \u2013 squabbling, sniping, loving, teasing, laughing, snarling, falling out, forgiving. Sometimes there have been desperate tensions. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that they\u2019re still together after all they\u2019ve been through. There seems to be a stability to their relationship and a profound understanding of each other.<\/p>\n

I ask Wayne what the real Coleen is like. \u201cVery caring, very efficient in terms of what she does for us as a family. She takes care of everything, which allows me to mess around a bit more with the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s funnier?<\/p>\n

\u201cMe,\u201d Wayne says instantly. \u201cYou haven\u2019t really got a sense of humour, have you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen laughs. \u201cI knew you were going to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cYou haven\u2019t. I like silly stuff like Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Only Fools and Horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pulls a face: \u201cI don\u2019t find that forced humour funny. I like just natural funny stuff. I\u2019ve got a different sense of humour to him. More everyday, natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their four boys, Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass, are now 16, 13, 10 and eight. Kai signed his first full-time contract with Manchester United in July and Klay is in United\u2019s academy. Kit and Cass are also promising footballers. Does Wayne think all four could become professionals? \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he whispers, as if not wanting to tempt fate. In the TV series, we see how much of his time is dedicated to coaching the boys or just playing with them on the football pitch in their gargantuan garden.<\/p>\n

Wayne and Coleen in a still from the show The Real Rooneys, with their sons (from left) Kit, Klay, Cass and Kai. Photograph: Disney+<\/p>\n

Wayne and Coleen say they have been offered reality shows before but turned them down. So why did they agree to do it now? As far as Wayne is concerned, it was the right time because for the first time in his life, professionally things were going wrong. After retiring as a player in 2021, at 35, he moved into coaching and management. At each club he struggled in difficult circumstances. In his first two jobs, at Derby County and DC United<\/a> in Washington DC, he resigned after improving the clubs\u2019 form but not significantly; at Birmingham City he was sacked in January 2024 after winning two games in 15, and at Plymouth Argyle he left in December of that year after winning four Championship league games out of 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at a crossroads. Up till then my whole career had been playing or coaching. I knew if Plymouth didn\u2019t pay off that would probably be my last management job. And when it didn\u2019t pay off I had to come to terms with my future probably not being in the dugout.\u201d In practical terms, it meant he\u2019d be around far more for a reality show.<\/p>\n

Was it hard to accept that management hadn\u2019t worked out for him? \u201cNo, I think I\u2019ve always been good at accepting things. Like when I moved from Man United back to Everton, I accepted quickly that I\u2019m not the level any more to play for Man United, so you\u2019re coming down again. So I\u2019ve been quite good at not hanging round too long, because I\u2019ve seen players play for too long.\u201d He pauses, still thinking about his disappointing management career. \u201cAfter Plymouth, it was tough, there\u2019s no denying that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Wayne\u2019s management career was coming to an end, Coleen\u2019s professional life was taking off. After dedicating herself to the boys, she decided it was time to do something for herself, and the show follows her as she negotiates herself a women\u2019s clothes range with Primark. It is thought that her deal is worth more than the \u00a3400,000 a year contract Wayne now has with Match of the Day as an analyst. While they\u2019ve not reached Posh and Becks\u2019 heights of wealth, the combined fortune of the Rooneys is around \u00a3200m, with Coleen now worth an estimated \u00a315m in her own right.<\/p>\n

One of the themes in The Real Rooneys is that this is now Coleen\u2019s time, and she jokes that Wayne is lucky to feature in the show. The boys are asked on a number of occasions whether their mother or father is more famous. (The answer is clearly Wayne, but towards the end they say it\u2019s getting closer). Do they really compete with each other over their respective fame? Coleen looks embarrassed. \u201cThat\u2019s Disney. That\u2019s not us asking, that\u2019s them. That\u2019s not us at all, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do they have control of the show\u2019s final edit? \u201cNo. I\u2019ve seen bits and bobs,\u201d Coleen says.<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cI\u2019ll probably wait till it comes out. But I\u2019m not fussed. I am what I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne and Coleen first met when they were 12 and growing up in Croxteth, a working-class suburb in Liverpool. Wayne\u2019s father was a builder\u2019s labourer, his mother a dinner lady at the secondary school he attended. Coleen\u2019s father was a bricklayer who ran a local boxing club, her mother a nursery nurse. He has described his childhood as rough and ready and called Coleen a \u201cgoody who did her homework\u201d. She left school with 10 GCSEs, including an A* in performing arts. He did not take GCSEs because his football career had already taken over.<\/p>\n

They started going out at 16, got engaged at 17 and married in 2008 at 22, by which time Wayne had already been regarded as England\u2019s best player for four years. (William Hill offered odds of 5\/1 that the marriage would last five years or less.) Are they surprised at the way their life has turned out? Football wise, Wayne says he\u2019s not, because he always knew he had the talent. \u201cBut I am surprised by the amount of media interest throughout my career, and still now. I wasn\u2019t comfortable in front of cameras; I just wanted to be a footballer. And then Coleen got pushed into the newspapers as well. We didn\u2019t know how to handle it. I just knew football and that was it really. I didn\u2019t have any sort of education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the thing is we did handle it, and in a way that we were oblivious to it,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cWe knew it was happening, but we just carried on with our life. What surprises me now is how we\u2019re still relevant. There are certain things when I think, why would the press want to report that? I think we\u2019re still very private.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne and Coleen in 2007, the year before they got married. Photograph: Dave Benett<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what she found so devastating about the \u201cWagatha\u201d stories being leaked to the Sun. They followed another family crisis in September 2017 when Wayne was caught three times over the limit driving the car of a woman he had met that night, who was in the passenger seat. It resulted in Coleen leaving home with the children, and moving back in with her parents while she figured out their future. She took a selfie of herself in bed with the boys at her parents\u2019 home and posted it on her private Instagram account. Details of the photo were leaked to the Sun.<\/p>\n

Are they surprised their marriage has survived all the media intrusion? \u201cYeah. It\u2019s very difficult mentally for anyone to survive the level of scrutiny we\u2019ve had,\u201d Wayne says. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to put into words when you don\u2019t want to go anywhere with your children because you\u2019re bringing the day \u2013 which is meant to be a fun day \u2013 down. Like when we go to theme parks now and people think you owe them, you have to do pictures with them, when you\u2019re there with your children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been a big part of our relationship,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cOn the show, the kids are asked who\u2019s the boss and they say me, but that\u2019s because if we\u2019re out somewhere I\u2019ll go and get a drink from the bar and bring it back. I know if he goes it\u2019s going to be mayhem and I don\u2019t want to be sitting there on my own, so I\u2019ll just get up and do it. It looks like I\u2019m the boss, but it\u2019s because we\u2019re going to have a better time as a family if we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markWhat surprises me now is how we\u2019re still relevant. There are certain things when I think, why would the press want to report that?Coleen wears suit, aimeleondore.com<\/a>; shoes, kurtgeiger.com<\/a>; Wayne wears top, zara.com<\/a>; trousers, aimeleondore.com<\/a>; shoes, arneclo.com<\/a>. Main image: Coleen wears jacket, self-portrait.com<\/a>; Wayne wears jacket, nn07.com<\/a>. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we\u2019d be at theme parks and they\u2019d take a picture of us on the ride and by the time we\u2019d finished the ride someone\u2019s bought it,\u201d Wayne says. He\u2019s swigging Red Bull from the can as he\u2019s talking. Is their home full of empty Red Bulls? He laughs. \u201cNo. I very rarely drink it. I used to when I was playing. Today it\u2019s just to get through you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne says he\u2019s learned how to manage himself when he\u2019s out. \u201cWhen the kids go to football tournaments and there are going to be lots of parents there, I know I\u2019m going to be ambushed. So I have to be ready mentally to take pictures with people, and do it with a smile on my face when all you want to do really is watch your kid play.\u201d Lots of celebrities refuse to do photos, I say. \u201cNo, I do pictures because I remember when I was a kid being a fan and going for autographs.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, he says, he still knows what it means to be a fan, because he sees it with his own boys. He says the youngest, Cass, is football crazy, but the last thing he wants is Wayne to use his status to get him access to his heroes.<\/p>\n

\u201cCass is a massive Everton fan, and last year he said he wanted to wait outside the training ground for autographs,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cWayne could go in and go into the dressing room and get them, but Cass wanted to wait outside the training room, so I had to take him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne during a BBC broadcast of the World Cup final. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

Wayne smiles at a memory. \u201cWhen we were in Portugal on holiday, we took Kit and Cass to play tennis at a campus, and Benzema and Kant\u00e9 were there training with their Saudi club, so Cass stood outside waiting for them. And he come back with the pictures.\u201d Were they surprised to see you? \u201cThey didn\u2019t know I was there.\u201d So you didn\u2019t even say hello to them? \u201cNo.\u201d Why? \u201cCos he\u2019s just a fan.\u201d His presence would have dampened Cass\u2019s pleasure. It\u2019s such a lovely story.<\/p>\n

I ask Coleen what advice would she give somebody starting a relationship with a famous footballer? \u201cWell, the bonus for us was that we knew each other before Wayne was a footballer. The biggest thing for us was to stay grounded, and we\u2019ve had really good support around us. The people you have around you are really important because the media can destroy young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you distinguish between genuine friends and hangers-on? \u201cWe\u2019ve got this with Kai having signed for Manchester United,\u201d Wayne says. \u201cWe know who his friends are. He\u2019s joined United and if there\u2019s suddenly a group of people starting to get close to him, you\u2019ll see that. I\u2019m not saying you can\u2019t make new friends \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The older boys are fully aware of Wayne\u2019s misdemeanours. At 18, the Sunday Mirror reported that he had paid for sexual services with women, including a 48-year-old grandmother in a catsuit. Massage parlours, fetishism, sexism, ageism and a good old-fashioned public shaming \u2013 it was tabloid gold. And that\u2019s far from the only time Rooney has found himself in hot water. \u201cWe\u2019ve spoken to our kids about lots of things, because there have been things in the newspapers that I\u2019ve done that they\u2019re going to see,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cIf our kids ask us questions we\u2019re straight with them. Obviously not when they were little, but as they\u2019ve been growing up we\u2019ve dealt with things and said, \u2018This is wrong, you should never do this, but things do happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung kids are going to make mistakes,\u201d Wayne says. \u201cIt\u2019s how they deal with that. And it\u2019s when mistakes are made that you see who your real friends are, because they\u2019ll be the ones there to support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, Coleen has said that whenever Wayne got into trouble, he\u2019d been drinking. I ask if he thinks his drinking was related to the pressures of the job? \u201cYes,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time you don\u2019t realise you\u2019re feeling the pressure as much as I probably was. I wouldn\u2019t go to Coleen and say, \u2018You know what, I feel like I\u2019m under pressure to perform for Man United and England.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markBack then, you wouldn\u2019t open up. I wouldn\u2019t go to Alex Ferguson, I wouldn\u2019t go to the club. So I\u2019d hold it all in and go home and drink. And end up making stupid decisions<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cI would say to him, \u2018What\u2019s up?\u2019 I\u2019d sense things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t open up. I wouldn\u2019t go to Alex Ferguson, I wouldn\u2019t go to the club. It\u2019s probably easier now, because there are more people you can talk to, to prevent stuff like that. Back then you wouldn\u2019t. So I\u2019d hold it all in and go home and drink. And, at that time, if I was drinking I\u2019d end up making stupid decisions. And that could have cost me my family. Now if I feel a bit down I\u2019ll say to Coleen, \u2018I feel shit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Does she tell you when she\u2019s feeling shit? \u201cI\u2019ll see it before she tells me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cI don\u2019t get down and wouldn\u2019t cope with it through drink the way he did. I would wait until I weighed everything up and then offload on somebody. I don\u2019t want to put my pressures or worries on other people until I feel I have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

I ask Wayne if Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager, could see when he was down? No, he says, he thinks he masked it. \u201cSomehow I was still playing well and scoring goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferguson was famous for giving players the \u201chairdryer\u201d treatment \u2013 a verbal, face-to-face dressing down. Did Rooney ever get the hairdryer? \u201cI got a few of them.\u201d Which was the worst? \u201cPortsmouth away,\u201d he says instantly. \u201cHe\u2019s come for me, but he was going for Ronaldo, really.\u201d Why? \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t want to do it to Ronaldo, because he couldn\u2019t take it.\u201d Ferguson criticised Wayne for dribbling too much. \u201cThen I\u2019ve gone back at him strong. That was the problem.\u201d What did you say? \u201cI said, \u2018Why are you saying that to me when Ronaldo\u2019s the one dribbling with the ball?\u2019\u201d Did Ferguson accept that? \u201cNo, he\u2019s come back at me then. I said, \u2018OK no problem.\u2019 I\u2019d scored one goal in the first half. I went out and scored another two, so it worked. He knew it would get me fired up, and I played at my best when I was on the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show is an amalgam of reality programmes \u2013 take The Osbournes, sprinkle it with The Apprentice (Coleen\u2019s budding career as a clothes designer), add a splash of Who Do You Think You Are? (a revelation about Wayne\u2019s genealogy) and you\u2019ve got The Real Rooneys. One interesting thing to emerge is Wayne\u2019s interest in history. The kids tell him he knows everything. Meanwhile he seems to think he\u2019s thick, or at least he believes that\u2019s what others think about him. I ask him why he\u2019s so down on himself. \u201cI signed for Everton at 16 and my interviews weren\u2019t great, and it was put in the newspapers that he can\u2019t read and write, which was not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did they say that?<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cThey just tried to label him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cThey realised I hadn\u2019t got an education. I hadn\u2019t even taken GCSEs, so that was what was said.\u201d Did it bother him? \u201cIt probably did, yeah. Then a lot of people you meet realise that\u2019s not the case. But there are things like that which I\u2019ve never been able to shrug off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, he says, he loves learning new things. \u201cI was playing in a multicultural environment. So if I\u2019m having a conversation with a teammate from a different place and with different beliefs, I wanted to know and hold a conversation on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cHe\u2019s curious like that. He asks questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a pundit, he has quickly become popular because of his honesty. Asked what he thought was the best part of the half-time show at the World Cup final, he said: \u201cI\u2019ll be honest, mine was when it finished. I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap.\u201d His comment went viral and became an internet meme.<\/p>\n

I ask if he feels more confident talking publicly since becoming a pundit? \u201cNo. I\u2019ve actually been confident since my mid-20s in speaking in front of people. I\u2019ve done leadership talks and Q&As in front of 10,000 people. I done one last week in Bangkok, where there were 7,000 people. And in all these things I\u2019ve never gone in with notes, and said, \u2018This is the message I need to get out.\u2019\u201d Has he never frozen? \u201cNo!\u201d I tell him he\u2019s a freak. \u201cWell, I did once! That was when we got married. That\u2019s the one time I had to read it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen says she has always been forthright in saying what she thinks, but the Wagatha Christie case made her more so. She eventually exposed Vardy by posting fake stories to her private Instagram account and restricting access so only Vardy could see them, proving she was the source of the leaks.<\/p>\n

double quotation markI really did not expect the case to go as big as it went. And when it did, I just had to cope with it, because I wasn\u2019t backing downThe couple leaving the Royal Courts of Justice, London, in 2022, during the Wagatha Christie trial. Photograph: Neil Mockford\/GC Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone through life putting my foot down in certain situations. Not straight away, but if something\u2019s just recurring, I will say, \u2018I\u2019m not putting up with this.\u2019 I\u2019ve rung journalists and said, \u2018Why d\u2019you keep putting this in the paper when you know it\u2019s not true? I\u2019m a person at the end of the day. I\u2019m someone\u2019s daughter, I\u2019m someone\u2019s sister, why are you writing this when it\u2019s not who I am?\u2019 You just reach a point where you think, I\u2019m not taking this any more.\u201d As was the case with the Instagram leaks? \u201cYes, but I really did not expect it to go as big as it went. And when it did, I just had to cope with it, because I wasn\u2019t backing down, even though there was times when I thought it would be easier if I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cI told her not to. I know what Coleen\u2019s morals are and I knew she was right in what she was saying, and I see first-hand the effect it had on her.\u201d He looks at her. \u201cIt was getting stupid, wasn\u2019t it, money-wise? The amount it was costing with lawyers. I said to her, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about that. Whether you win or lose in court, whatever the outcome is, you need to make sure you get your point across.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the image that most changed public perception was the suited Wayne walking out of court carrying Coleen\u2019s bag for her. Mrs Justice Steyn ruled in Coleen\u2019s favour, concluding that her allegations about Vardy leaking the social media posts were \u201csubstantially true\u201d. Vardy was ordered to pay 90% of Coleen\u2019s \u00a31.8m costs. The two sides eventually reached an agreement where Vardy agreed to pay \u00a31.19m (90% of legal fees and expenses) and \u00a3212,266 in assessment costs (the figure for fighting over the costs).<\/p>\n

The strange thing is, she says, people have suggested she should give the money away to charity, as if it was money she had \u201cwon\u201d rather than costs recovered. \u201cI got taken to court. It wasn\u2019t my court case, it was her court case. I didn\u2019t win anything. I lost! I just got my legal fees back! Some of them! So that\u2019s where people didn\u2019t understand the situation I was in.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are a number of unexpected moments in The Real Rooneys, not least when the couple take the two youngest boys to Poland. I ask if that was their idea or Disney\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cNo, that was us. Kit really wanted to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cIt was part of his education. He was doing world war two at school.\u201d They are seen in the show passing Auschwitz, and stopping to look at the cattle cars the Nazis used to transport people to their death.<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cIt\u2019s really important to learn about history, good and bad. Sometimes with your kids, you only want to tell them good stuff, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cWe knew we\u2019d be passing Auschwitz, and we wanted to stop.\u201d She looks at Wayne. \u201cYou\u2019ve been before, haven\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cI went at the Euros in 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. The FA asked us who wanted to go, and four or five of us went. It put a lot of things into perspective to see what had gone on there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen wears dress, ajeworld.com<\/a>; Wayne wears jacket, mrporter. com<\/a>; T-shirt, Sunspel. sunspel.com<\/a>. Denim shot: Coleen and Wayne wear jackets and jeans, both levi.com<\/a>. Coleen wears heels; dunelondon.com<\/a>; Wayne wears trainers, marksandspencer.com<\/a>.
Styling: Bemi Shaw. Hair: Darcy Harvey. Makeup: Cassie Lomas. On set tailor: Eleanor Williams. Studio: Big Sky Studios. Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

I ask how they keep their boys grounded when they live in such a privileged world. \u201cIt\u2019s going back to the people you\u2019ve got around you,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cThat\u2019s where I think our kids are lucky. They visit our family, who are still living in Croxteth. They\u2019ll go out on their bikes around there, so they\u2019re not living in this little bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are their parents living in nicer houses than they used to? \u201cBoth our parents changed houses. But all our cousins and families are still in their same houses, and my friends are still all around there,\u201d Wayne says.<\/p>\n

double quotation markI\u2019m pretty sure people will say, \u2018Despite everything that\u2019s happened in their life, they\u2019ve still managed to be grounded and still know where their roots are\u2019<\/p>\n

Who are his best friends in football? He names some of his former Manchester United colleagues. \u201cThere\u2019s Wes Brown, John O\u2019Shea, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson. We\u2019re all friends, and all the wives are friends as well. So we go on holidays together. There\u2019s not actually many players you stay friends with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen says she can\u2019t stand the word \u201cWag\u201d. \u201cIt put everyone into one category, and we\u2019re all individuals doing different things. A Wag was made out to be someone who\u2019s always out shopping and lunching, living the high life. Obviously, you do that sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost time to leave. I tell them I\u2019ve got a final nosy question. Did they get loads of money for making The Real Rooneys?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say loads,\u201d Wayne says. \u201cOf course, we\u2019re getting paid to do it. We\u2019re not going to do it for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

They insist the money (reported to be a \u00a310m deal) isn\u2019t the main reason they opened up their lives to the cameras. So why did they? Well, they say, there\u2019s been so much rubbish talked about them over the years, and it\u2019s nice to get the opportunity to show what they\u2019re really like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure people will come away and say, \u2018You know what, despite everything that\u2019s happened in their life and with football or with the Coleen stuff, they\u2019ve still managed to be grounded and they still know where their roots are,\u2019\u201d Wayne says.<\/p>\n

The thing is, they wanted it to be real, they say, and that reality does not always make for cosy viewing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been filming this for over a year,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cWe\u2019re in a really good place now, but there\u2019s times in that programme when things weren\u2019t going smooth. It\u2019s difficult to navigate life sometimes, and there were some big decisions to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cIt would have been easier for us not to talk about that on camera.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen: \u201cThere was one time when they wanted us to come together for a talk and I was like, \u2018I\u2019m not talking to him, so why would I do that for the show when we genuinely aren\u2019t talking?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, she says they went ahead with the filming because it had been agreed.<\/p>\n

Wayne grins. \u201cShe said something to me and I said, \u2018This is the first thing she\u2019s spoken to me in four days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the argument about?<\/p>\n

Wayne: \u201cI can\u2019t remember. I\u2019m sure it was her fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleen ignores his little joke. \u201cNo, but you\u2019re more content now, aren\u2019t you?\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re in a better place in life, aren\u2019t you? You went through a period where it was hard and you were a bit lost, weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a way, Wayne says, that\u2019s why they wanted to do the show. \u201cThis is what marriages are like all around the world, for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople see us as a married couple with four kids who go through tough periods like any married couple,\u201d Coleen says. \u201cYou get stressed with kids or you get stressed with each other, but that doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t have fun with each other as well. Even though we\u2019ve been in the spotlight for so many years, our morals and lives are still similar to the everyday person. I think people will watch this and see we\u2019re actually really relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Real Rooneys is available on Disney+<\/a> from 24 \u00adSeptember<\/p>\n