He’s become known over the years for his tendency to wind up in all kinds of trouble – including gambling, excessive drinking and getting arrested for disorderly conduct. But there’s one thing that’s ultimately kept Wayne Rooney on the straight and narrow…and that’s his football career. So, as you can imagine, the idea of him retiring has hit Wayne’s wife Coleen Rooney hard. Due to the football season being suspended since March due to coronavirus and Wayne coming to the end of his career, there have been discussions about him stopping football now if the season doesn’t resume.
And not only is Coleen worried that – without a strict training regime (and industry bigwigs keeping an eye on him) – he’ll be far more likely to resort to drinking and partying, but she’s also got their future prospects to consider.
Family life chez Rooneys doesn’t come cheap and, with their £20m mega-mansion still under construction and four young sons to raise, she’s worried about the financial losses they might be facing. All things considered, Wayne’s ‘golden age’ of retirement is looking bleak.
Check out: from Coleen to Cheryl - where are the 2006 WAGs now?
The UK Wags - where are they now?
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1 of 9Victoria Beckham
One half of the indestructible Beckham brand, Victoria was the original Queen WAG in 2006. At the time Victoria had been married to David for seven years and had just given birth to her third boy, Cruz. She had also just launched her denim line, dvb Style and walked the catwalk for Roberto Cavalli. Over a decade later, she is a fully fledged and well respected fashion designer, with a fourth addition to her brood – the adorable Harper.
2 of 9Coleen Rooney
Coleen rose to fame as a WAG at just 20 years old. Coleen and Wayne are married and they celebrated their ten-year anniversary in 2018. However, Wayne's repeated cheating has strained the relationship over the years. They have four children together, Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass. Since 2006 Coleen has released a fitness DVD, been a style advisor for Littlewoods and even had a column with us in Closer magazine.
3 of 9Cheryl
How could we forget Cheryl as a WAG? Back then, 23-year-old Cheryl was a popstar in Girls Aloud who had just married Ashley Cole. Nowadays, Cheryl is a household name and a worldwide celebrity in her own right. After splitting from Ashley in 2010, she had a successful (well, successful-ish) solo career, was a judge on The X Factor and was the face of beauty brand L'Oreal. She married Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2016 but they divorced three months later. Most recently, Cheryl separated from One Direction singer, Liam Payne, who she has a baby son called Bearwith.
4 of 9Abbey Clancy
Abbey first grabbed our attention in 2006 as one of the finalists in Britain's Next Top Model. She began dating Peter Crouch that same year and the pair are now married with three kids Sophia Ruby, Liberty Rose and baby Johnny. Lingerie model Abbey went on to win Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and she returned to Britain's Next Top Model as the show's presenter. Not bad work, eh?
5 of 9Danielle Lloyd
Danielle Lloyd was dating footballer Teddy Sheringham when she gained her WAG status. At the time, her title as Miss Great Britain was a controversial matter and she was later stripped of it. Fast forward to now and Danielle has appeared on TV shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, Total Wipeout, The Weakest Link and even Come Dine With Me. She has three sons, Archie, Harry and George with her now ex-husband Jamie O'Hara. Danielle gave birth to a fourth child with her husband Michael O'Neill, Ronnie, in 2017.
6 of 9Elen Rivas
Elen Rivas was engaged to Frank Lampard at the time of the 2006 World Cup, and was a permanent fixture in the WAG circle. After splitting from Frank after a seven-year relationship, she dated Peter Andre, appeared on Dancing On Ice and now looks after her two daughters Luna and Isla while working as a model. Frank has since married TV presenter Christine Bleakley and they've welcomed their daughter Patricia into the world.
7 of 9Louise Owen
Despite being married to one of the most famous footballers at the time, Louise Owen wasn't your stereotype WAG. She has always managed to keep her distance from the limelight. Her passion is rescuing race horses and she currently lives in Wales with her husband Michael and their four children, Gemma, James, Jessica and Emily.
8 of 9Carly Zucker
Now known as Carly Cole after marrying midfielder Joe Cole in Chelsea in 2009, Carly loved to party during the 2006 World Cup (we know the feeling). She then spent two weeks in the jungle during I'm A Celeb in 2009 before being the third to be booted out. Carly and Joe have had three children, Ruby, Harrison and Max together.
9 of 9Alex Curran
Former nail technician Alex Curran began dating Liverpool player Steven Gerrard in 2002. She was one of the leading figures in the 2006 WAG squad. The pair married in 2007 and they have had four children together, Lexie, Lio, Lord, Lilly-Ella. Fashion lover Alex has released a perfume, fronted a Lipsy campaign and written a weekly shopping column for a national newspaper.
“Wayne’s had a packed training schedule from the age of 12 – his life’s always been managed for him,” says an insider close to Coleen, 34, who began dating Wayne when they were both 16 and he was already playing professional football.
“When he gets time off, that’s when the trouble seems to happen. Boredom is the biggest trigger for all of his issues and Coleen’s concerned that, left to his own devices, he would play Playstation all day, before going out all night and drinking and gambling.”
Wayne has yet to comment publicly on when he’ll retire from football, but his career has already started winding down, since leaving America last year (where he played for DC United) and joining Derby County as a player and coach. In October, he’ll be 35 – grandpa-status in football years. Still, it’s not the best time for the family to be making big changes.
As heat has reported, Coleen and Wayne, who are parents to Kai, ten, Klay, seven, Kit, four, and two-year-old Cass, are not in a good place: she’s still furious about the ill-timed comments he made about footballers’ high wages at the beginning of lockdown, when he claimed that footballers were being treated as “scapegoats” by being asked to take pay cuts.
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He then landed himself in further hot water by flouting social distancing rules, after bumping into his ex-England teammate Kyle Walker (who was accused days later of hosting a party for a friend and two sex workers).
Meanwhile, Coleen herself is already stressed out, as she’s looking to go to the high court after failing to reach a deal in her ongoing battle with fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy – which could be a pricey affair. Add to that the fact that their massive Cheshire mansion is still under construction and is racking up costs.
“The family’s lifestyle isn’t cheap,” says our source. “Protecting their fortune is a big concern for Coleen because, once the money stops coming in, it won’t come in again in the same way.”
Then, of course, there’s the added conflict of having Wayne around the house all the time: “Coleen is so busy with all the cooking, cleaning and homeschooling and she can be quite bossy at times,” says our source. “Lockdown has definitely been testing and there have been a few rows. She’s worried that this will only get worse once Wayne retires.”
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