WAGS PITCH IN WITH THE drama
With the Euros in full swing, we’re taking a look at drama off the field over the years… By Keeley Ryan
From high pro le splits to #Wagathachristie; a“wedding crasher” to talk show feuds, there’s been plenty of times the wives and girlfriends of footballers have landed in the headlines throughout the years.
Sometimes, things have rumbled on for years. Other times, they were ultimately able to patch things up.
And with the Euros in full swing, we’re taking a look at some of the WAG drama throughout the years…
Victoria Beckham is the ultimate WAG, with many claiming the phrase was coined after her high pro le relationship with David Beckham became public way back in the mid-90s.
And though Victoria has largely tried to stay away from the ‘wife and girlfriend’ tag, she has inadvertently been dragged into some dramas over the years.
Ashley Cole and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy rst got together in 2004, with the footballer popping the question the following year in Dubai.
They wed in 2006, with their wedding pictures said to have gone for a six- gure sum — and Cheryl went to the World Cup to support him, where she was pictured sitting with the other WAGS. Throughout their relationship, there were claims that Ashley had been unfaithful — including in 2008, when hairdresser Aimee Walton said that she had slept with him.
Cheryl led for divorce in 2010, citing “unreasonable behaviour”— shortly after several women came forward to claim the they had slept with Ashley.
Their divorce was nalised in September that year.
Cheryl and Victoria, meanwhile, are said to have become close during the 2006 World Cup — but the former was said to have been left heartbroken when Victoria didn’t reach out to her following the cheating allegations being made public. According to The Mirror, she told Vogue in 2009,“I mean, David’s mum is friends with Ashley’s mum, she (Victoria) was in my hotel room the whole time during the World Cup — we’ve had barbecues together — so I was quite shocked by that.”
The pair are said to have
patched things up since and are on good terms now.
Victoria has also had a bit of a ashpoint with Rebekahvardy (and more on her later) in the past — though this went completely unaddressed by the former.
In 2016,Vardy lashed out atvictoria, claiming she was using her kids for publicity. It came as news emerged that Cruz Beckham,victoria’s then-11 year old son, would be releasing a charity Christmas song.
In a column in OK! Magazine,vardy wrote,“i don’t agree with allowing their 11 year old son Cruz to have an Instagram and Twitter account. I know he’s releasing a charity single, but it just encourages trolls.”
“Their eldest son Brooklyn is releasing a book, too... There’s no chance of Brand Beckham dying!”
Kyle Walker may be one of the stars of the England squad at this summer’s Euros but his life off the pitch is what has been making headlines for the last few years.
He and Annie Kilner — who have four children together — rst met when he was 17 and she was 15. They split in May 2019, when Ex on the Beach’s Laura Brown is said to have told Annie that Kyle had been unfaithful with her.
During their split, he is said to have had a brief ing with Lauryn Goodman, with their rst child together born the following year.
Despite this, Kyle and Annie ended up reconciling and tied the knot in 2021 in a small ceremony.
However, Lauryn gave birth to her second child in July last year, and shared that the baby’s father was a footballer — although she did not reveal his identity.
Lauryn is said to have told Annie in December 2023 that Kyle was the father — and the following month, she told how she didn’t“want them to split up or cause harm”but that “it had to be out in the open for all of our sakes”.
She told The Sun, “Kyle was happy hiding the truth because he was having two families and was scared about what would happen when Annie knew but I kept saying to him,‘our daughter can’t be a secret, she is a human’.
“I didn’t want them to split up or cause harm but it had to be out in the open for all of our sakes.”
Soon after, Annie — who was pregnant at the time — issued a statement saying she had“decided to take some time away from Kyle”.
She wrote, ”I am posting this in response to growing recent media enquiries about my marriage to Kyle and in an effort to protect my family against the intensity of the media spotlight.
“Sadly, after many years of marriage and three wonderful children together, I have decided to take some time away from Kyle. “I do not wish to comment on the position any further. For now, I ask that the privacy of myself and our three young children is respected during this difficult time.” Annie gave birth to hers and Kyle’s fourth child in April, and has been spotted attending England’s Euros games with their sons. Lauryn is said to have signed up for the next series of Celebs Go Dating — and to be a part of a documentary following life as a WAG. Earlier this month, she was spotted at the Euros with her son. You can’t talk WAG drama without mentioning Coleen Rooney and the aforementioned Rebekah Vardy, who made headlines around the world with the ‘Wagatha Christie’ case. In 2019, Coleen took to social media to explain that she had suspected for a long time that someone that she trusted to follow her personal Instagram account had been leaking private information about her to the press.
She explained that she had“blocked everyone from viewing my Instagram stories except ONE account” — and over the course of ve months, she posted a series of fake stories to see if they would make their way into the press.
Her post continued, “It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all, especially when the stories have been leaked, however I had to. Now I know for certain which account/ individual it’s come from.” Coleen ended the post by naming Rebekah Vardy’s account as the one that she
“Sadly, after many years of marriage, I’ve decided to take some time away...”
didn’t block.
Rebekah, meanwhile, responded in a post addressed to Coleen — and claimed that a number of people had had access to her Instagram account over the years, but she had never spoken to the press about her.
She continued,
“If you thought this was happening you could have told me and I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped.”
The situation quickly captured the attention of social media users, with #Wagathachristie trending — and many calling on Coleen to pursue a future in detective work.
The following year, Rebekah — who denied the claims — sued Coleen for libel and the case came to trial in 2022. After a trial, the judge ruled in favour of Coleen and said that her accusation was “substantially true”.
According to The Mirror, Rebekah said in a statement after the trial that she was “extremely sad and disappointed at the decision that the judge has reached”.
She said,“it is not the result that I had expected, nor believe was just. I brought this action to vindicate my reputation and am devastated by the judge’s nding.
“The judge accepted that publication of Coleen’s post was not in the ‘public interest’ and she also rejected her claim that I was the ‘Secret Wag’. But as for the rest of her judgement, she got it wrong and this is something I cannot accept.
“As I explained in my evidence I, my family and even my unborn baby, were subjected to disgusting messages and vile abuse following Coleen’s post and these have continued even during the course of the trial.
“Please can the people who have been abusing me and my family now stop. The case is over.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me.”
In a statement of her own, Coleen said she was“pleased”by the decision but has “no ill will”towards Rebekah — adding that“it was not a case I ever sought or wanted.”
She told how she had made“constant efforts to avoid the need for such a public and drawn out court case”both before and after the initial post, however“all my efforts to do so were knocked back by Mrsvardy and her lawyers.”
The post continued,“the leaks from my private Instagram account began in 2017. They continued for almost two years, intruding on my privacy and that of my family.
“Although I bear Mrsvardy no ill will, today’s judgement makes clear that I was right in what I said in my Instagram posts.
“Finally, I would to thank all of my legal team, my family and friends and everyone who has supported me – including the public – through this difficult and stressful time.”
The Wagatha Christie story has been brought to both the stage and the screen over the years, with the rst dramatisation —Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama — airing in December 2022.
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial was on stage in London’s West
End from November 2022 until January 2023. A two-part documentary,vardy vs Rooney: The Wagatha Trial, landed on Discovery+ in November 2022.
And Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story — a documentary about the story, which also told Coleen’s side of the story — was released on Disney+ in October 2023.
A number of people waded into the Wagatha Christine situation throughout the years — including Danielle Lloyd, who clashed with Rebekah on social media after an appearance on This Morning.
Danielle said on the show that she wasn’t surprised and that she believed Rebekah — who was denying the allegations — was responsible.
She said,“i wasn’t as shocked. Because I’ve had run-ins with Rebekah before over similar things, so I wasn’t as shocked.
“Obviously like everybody else you read it and you think, ‘Oh my gosh,’ but I wasn’t as shocked seeing who it actually allegedly was.”
Rebekah took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny Danielle’s claims that they had had similar“run-ins”.
According to Birmingham Live, she wrote in a since-deleted post,“danielle Lloyd making false claims on @thismorning that we have had ‘similar run-ins’ is utter b ****** s. She is just fuming that I didn’t get Jamie recruiting’ for her like she asked me to…”
Danielle has also been involved in plenty more WAG drama — when things between her and Nicola Mclean took a turn in 2017.
A rift appeared to form in the days leading up to Nicola going into the Celebrity Big Brother house, when it was revealed that Danielle had named her dog Rocky, which is the same name as Nicola’s eldest son.
Nicola was appearing in the house alongside Jamie O’hara, who was married to Danielle from 2012 until 2014. The pair — who have three kids together — split amid reports he had cheated on her.
On the show, Jamie and Nicola were in the garden with Austin Armacost when Nicola shared her thoughts on people who call themselves WAGS.
She said,“i don’t think any wives or girlfriends would call themselves a WAG. And if they did I’d think they were the biggest d ****** d in the whole entire world.”
Austin asked whether she had“ever met a girl, who that was her goal to become one”— and Nicola replied,“no, Jamie met one and married one.”
Danielle and Jamie’s previous relationship came up during a row in the house between Kim Woodburn and Nicola, with the latter defending Jamie by saying she’d been at his 2012 wedding to Danielle.
However, Danielle took to social media and denied that Nicola had been there.
She said,“nicola Mclean (sic) was not at my wedding, just to con rm!
“And if Nicola turned up in the night she was de nitely a wedding crasher.”
After leaving the CBB house, Nicola maintained that she had been there for the celebrations.
She sarcastically told the Daily Mail, “Yeah, I’d really lie about where I was on the evening of Danielle Lloyd and Jamie O’hara’s wedding.
“I’d need to lie about that, my life is that dull that I’d genuinely lie about being at a wedding.”