If you thought you knew everything about WAG/super-sleuth Coleen Rooney following her recent Disney + documentary, think again. Last week, the star was back with more explosive bombshells with the release of her much-anticipated memoir, My Account.
Having shot to fame as Wayne Rooney’s girlfriend when they were both teenagers, Coleen has spent more than two decades in the limelight – and with their marriage going through some very public rocky times due to his misdemeanours, it came as no surprise that she has put her husband firmly in the firing line at times.
From discussing her pain over his infidelities with sex workers to his problems with alcohol and how she brought their marriage back from the brink, Coleen didn’t hold back. And while Wayne may have preferred her to leave the past where it belongs, no one tells Coleen to do anything – as she writes in her book, “If you were to ask Wayne who wears the trousers in our house, he’d tell you that it’s me without blinking. As would anyone who knows us.”
The WAG has spent years being cruelly branded a “doormat” for sticking by her philandering husband – only worsened by the arrival of social media and the rise of trolling – and it’s clear this is her time to answer her critics. And now a source tells heat that Coleen – who shares sons Kai, 14, Klay, ten, Kit, seven, and Cass, five, with Wayne – is at a point where she feels in total control of not only her life, but her 15-year marriage, too.
“As she says in the book, it’s clear she’s the one with the power in the marriage,” our insider explains.
“She’s firmly in the driving seat and, if she ever did decide to walk away from Wayne after another drama, then she knows she would be OK and that it would be on her terms. Despite all the sensational headlines and dramas over the years, behind closed doors Coleen’s approach has always been to sit Wayne down and demand to know everything, or she’d be out the door. The line in the sand was drawn at him lying to her. He learned that lesson early on.”
After meeting at the age of 12, Coleen and Wayne became childhood sweethearts at 16, and the early days of their romance – which she reveals were spent going to the cinema and the chip shop – were a far cry from the life they’ve led under the glare of the spotlight since Wayne made his Everton debut in 2002. And while Coleen has managed to maintain a dignified front, Wayne’s mistakes have been magnified by the headlines.
In 2004, it was reported that, aged 16, and just months after he and Coleen had made their relationship official, Wayne had slept with three sex workers – including a 48-year-old grandmother – at a brothel in Liverpool.
In My Account, Coleen writes, “When Wayne sat me down and told me it was true and that the story was about to break in the national press, I was confused and hurt. I couldn’t even speak to him. More than that, I felt ashamed… Everyone knew, and everyone seemed to have an opinion. I sat with it all swirling around me like some horrible dream, unable to decide what was best or what I wanted.”
Wayne, now 38, later admitted he had been “young and stupid”, but eight years later in 2010, he was revealed to have done it again – when Coleen was pregnant with their first child. It was reported that the football ace – who was then at the height of his career – had paid escort Jenny Thompson for sex on numerous occasions. He also allegedly paid escort Helen Wood £1,000 to join them for a threesome.
Coleen reveals how Wayne rang her on a “fairly ordinary day” while she was getting her hair done to admit, “I’ve got something to tell you”, before the scandal was made public. But despite Coleen – who revealed her friends had later “chased” Jenny down the street after bumping into her in a nightclub – admitting that it had felt like the past was coming back to “haunt” her, she made the decision to stand by her man.
She explained, “This was a massive test for me and our relationship. Everyone now knows I forgave him and we got through it, but it wasn’t an overnight thing. As a family, we went through a terrible time. Nothing about this was easy for me.”
Coleen – who also shared how she had been left wondering whether she could “only have boys” after suffering two heartbreaking miscarriages she believes may have been daughters – also candidly opened up about how Wayne’s drinking played a central role in his cheating.
She wrote, “If I’d found out he was having an affair or he’d told me he was in love with someone else, I couldn’t have gotten over it, but that wasn’t the case… I sometimes ask myself if he should drink at all.”
Our source says it hasn’t always been so easy for Coleen to forgive Wayne, but she has learned to trust her instincts.
“Looking back, she wasn’t always this strong. For a few years, the idea of leaving Wayne would have been terrifying for her – being a single mum, being alone and having to deal with it all by herself seemed impossible to her,” we’re told. “Now she has matured into such a capable and confident woman who knows her own mind.”
The source adds, “Their marriage has never been stronger, and in a way that gives her the vindication of knowing that all of the decisions she made were the best ones for her family.”