England Footballer's Wife Rebekah Vardy Loses 'Wagatha Christie' Libel Spat

A UK judge Friday effectively branded England footballer's wife Rebekah Vardy a liar as she rejected her "Wagatha Christie" libel suit against Coleen Rooney, following a trial that lifted the lid on celebrity skullduggery. High Court judge Karen Steyn found that allegations made by Rooney against Vardy were "substantially true", and that Vardy was "substantially engaged" in the release of damaging stories to The Sun newspaper by her agent. Vardy's husband Jamie plays for Leicester City, while Rooney is the wife of former Manchester United star Wayne. The 12-day trial in May laid bare tabloid double-dealing and the lives of the rich and famous.

Fascination with the lives of the wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of top-flight footballers -- and their very public falling-out -- produced wall-to-wall coverage of the trial.

The pair's designer outfits and Coleen's surgical boot made front-page news, while social media split into two camps, -- #TeamColeen and #TeamRebekah.

Coleen, the childhood sweetheart of England's leading goal scorer, was dubbed "Wagatha Christie" after she set up an elaborate sting to try to determine who was behind the leaks, then announced her findings publicly.

"It's... Rebekah Vardy's account," she said.

Legal costs reportedly ran into millions of pounds (dollars, euros), and the women's lawyers had previously represented Hollywood actor Johnny Depp and Chelsea Football Club's former owner Roman Abramovich.

Vardy vehemently denied leaking details from Rooney's private Instagram account, and had sought "substantial libel damages", her lawyer Hugh Tomlinson said at the trial.

But she faced accusations from Rooney's lawyer David Sherborne of being "an entirely unreliable witness".

English libel law placed the