Rebekah Vardy has tearfully revealed the stress caused by last year’s WAGatha Christie drama and subsequent online trolling she experienced left her in hospital three times.
The former I’m A Celebrity contestant said that she suffered severe anxiety attacks after Coleen Rooney publicly accused Rebekah of leaking stories about her to the press.
Coleen - the wife of ex-England striker Wayne Rooney - told her 1.2 million Twitter followers that she “came up with an idea” to spend five months attempting to work out who was leaking stories to The Sun newspaper based on her personal Instagram posts.
The plan saw her block everyone apart from an Instagram page belonging to the person she suspected was the leaker – later announcing to the world that it was “Rebekah Vardy’s account” in a lengthy statement.
Having vehemently denied the allegations, Rebekah – who is married to England player Jamie Vardy – has now opened up about the effect the saga had, after becoming the target of online trolls.
Appearing on Loose Women, she said: “It was really really hard. It is probably up there with one of the worst things that I have had to deal with apart from being abused when I was younger.”
Recalling being seven months pregnant when it all happened, Rebekah, who admitted she is “in the middle of a legal battle” over the matter, continued: “We were just about to meet to go for dinner with some friends and we were just in a taxi, my manager messaged me and said you need to see this. I looked at my phone and there it was in all its glory. It was hideous and it was horrible and I don’t think I was prepared for what was to come.
“The trolling was the worst part for me. I have been trolled before and I do get it all the time, but it escalated off the back of this.”
Detailing her severe anxiety attacks she experienced as a result, Rebekah said: “I ended up in hospital three times. I ended up with kidney stones. I felt like I couldn’t go out with people just looking at me just questioning, ‘Did she do it? Did she not do it?’”
Rebekah also said several arrests were made after she went to the police about the trolls.
“You can’t let them win,” she said. “I think the more we highlight the fact that this is happening and this is really serious the more the chances are of doing something good about it.”
Loose Women airs weekday at 12.30pm on ITV.