Coleen Rooney has said she believes some couples give up on their relationships too quickly, as she reflected on the cheating scandals that have shadowed her marriage to Wayne Rooney.
The 40-year-old WAG and her 40-year-old ex-professional footballer husband are preparing to let cameras into their family home with their four sons for a new Disney+ series. Ahead of its release, the couple discussed how they weathered several media storms following Wayne's infidelities becoming public.
Coleen told OK! magazine that love had always been there between them, and that people were often too quick to give up on relationships and too vocal in the moment, declaring "that's enough." She said that instead, she and Wayne had talked things through and tried to work out their issues.
Coleen said they still loved each other, still had a connection and still had feelings, adding that she believed they had done well, particularly in handling their relationship while the world looked in on them. She said people had been very vocal about their marriage, but that she and Wayne had dealt with it behind closed doors.
Wayne, however, stopped short of claiming they had found the secret to a perfect relationship. He said there would undoubtedly be tough moments in the future, as with any married couple, but that when they looked back they had shared great moments and still had much of their life left to live together with their children and, hopefully, grandchildren.
Wayne's past infidelities
Wayne has previously been candid about his infidelity, revealing that as a teenager, before marrying Coleen, he visited brothels and paid for sex, which he described as foolish and immature behaviour at the time.
The biggest scandal to hit the couple came during Coleen's first pregnancy, when escort Jennifer Thompson alleged she had a relationship with Wayne. It was later reported that Wayne had also paid for a threesome involving Thompson and another escort, Helen Wood.
In 2017, Wayne was arrested for drink-driving after leaving a nightclub with Laura Simpson and being found driving her car. Simpson said the pair had kissed and cuddled but denied they had sex.
The Real Rooneys documentary
With Wayne's indiscretions in the past, the family is now looking ahead to the release of their reported £10 million fly-on-the-wall documentary.
The 10-part series, titled The Real Rooneys, is set to air on September 24, with cameras given access inside the couple's reported £20 million mansion in Cheshire. The show follows Wayne as he steps away from football management for school runs, while Coleen builds on the success of her stint on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Their four sons, Kai, 16, Kit, 10, Klay, 13, and Cass, eight, also feature.
The teaser opens with Wayne joking that it is "my series," to which Coleen replies, "Are you glad that I let you come on?" Wayne shoots back, "Oh, here we go. Get over it!" As their four boys pile onto the sofa, Coleen adds that it is hectic and mad, with "not much peace and quiet around here," and that "no one knows the real Rooneys."
A synopsis for the show says it follows the family through the highs and lows of married life, raising four lively boys and supporting eldest son Kai as he pursues his own footballing dream, with unprecedented access. It promises surprising personal revelations, career-defining moments, lavish celebrations and unforgettable family holidays, from their Cheshire home to the beaches of Barbados and the snowy Alps, describing the Rooneys as Britain's most famous and private family "as never seen before: warm, funny and authentic."
Kai is eligible for a professional contract at Manchester United next season after earning his first scholarship. In March, he signed with sports agency Triple S Sports as he took a step forward in his youth career.
Bidding war between streamers
Disney+ and Amazon reportedly fought a months-long bidding war for the rights to the show, with Disney+ ultimately winning with a fee said to be £10 million. Sources close to the project said Coleen would be paid £5 million, with the remainder going to production company Lorton Entertainment, which also made her previous show, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story.
One insider said the bidding had gone on for months, with the fee climbing to £10 million, far higher than first imagined, reflecting how in demand Coleen currently is. The insider said both streamers recognised the public's appetite for an inside look at footballers' home lives, pointing to the Beckhams' Netflix documentary as the most-watched show in the UK last year, racking up more than 200 million hours of viewing time globally. The insider added that Coleen is loved by the British public, especially after her performance on I'm A Celebrity, and that it was no surprise Disney and Amazon went head to head for the rights, predicting the series would be "compulsive viewing" featuring Wayne and the children as well as Coleen, and that despite the cost it would be "worth every penny."
Contrast with Rebekah Vardy
Coleen's success stands in contrast to a similar project involving her rival WAG Rebekah Vardy. Coleen defeated Vardy, wife of former Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, in their "Wagatha Christie" libel trial in 2022, leaving Vardy with a £3 million legal bill.
Industry sources say Vardy has been quietly filming a pilot for a reality show with the Freeview channel W, though television executives were reportedly "not exactly enthralled" by the results.
