Coleen Rooney defends decision to stay with husband Wayne for 20 years: ‘I’m not stupid’

Coleen Rooney has shared some insight into her long relationship with Wayne Rooney, and her decision to work through difficult moments rather than walk away.

The media personality and football star have been together since their teenage years and married in 2008.

As Coleen, 37, prepares for the release the Disney+ documentary series Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, she recalled her first meeting with the future Manchester United and England star at 16.

“He was cheeky and that turned into charm, and I fell for it,” she told The Sunday Times. “Would I have thought I’d marry him? Probably no, but I fell in love. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight, but it gradually did happen.”

Throughout their time together, Wayne has been linked to multiple stories of infidelity.

During the interview, Coleen referred to critics who argue that they would have ended the relationship if they were in her position.

“I think if you’re in the public eye, people look upon you and think they know you, but they don’t actually,” she noted.

“We know each other. There’s love there, and if there wasn’t we wouldn’t still be together. So I’m not stupid. I know people might say, ‘Oh, I would have left him years ago,’ but why, when you still have something to work at? You can comment on my life all you like, but that’s the way I want to live it. And hopefully that’s how it always will be.”

Coleen Rooney and Wayne Rooney (Getty Images)

Coleen went on to praise Wayne’s skills with their children. The pair have four sons: Kai, 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five.

“He is the best at bedtime,” she said of her husband. “Like, he gives them a bath, puts them in bed and you literally don’t hear a peep out of them. With me, I can see to everything and I always get, ‘Mummmm!’”

The forthcoming documentary series will show Coleen’s perspective during the 2022 libel trial put forth by Rebekah Vardy, the wife of Leicester City footballer, Jamie.

Vardy took legal action after Coleen claimed her fellow WAG had been leaking stories about her to the press.

The trial was a matter of widespread public interest, and resulted in Coleen being dubbed “Wagatha Christie” due to her investigating ahead of naming Vardy as the person leaking stories.

Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story launches on Disney+ on 18 October.