Entertainment

Coleen Rooney says public haven’t forgiven husband Wayne for ‘mistakes’

She said the couple had to grow up quickly as they were both ‘living in the public eye’.

Coleen Rooney says public haven’t forgiven husband Wayne for ‘mistakes’
Coleen Rooney says public haven’t forgiven husband Wayne for ‘mistakes’ (Victoria Jones/PA)
By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Coleen Rooney said her husband Wayne has not been forgiven in the court of public opinion over previous mistakes, during the latest episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

The 38-year-old said despite “difficult” times in her marriage with the ex-footballer, the couple are “happy now”.

In 2017, Wayne was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work after admitting being nearly three times the legal drink drive limit while at the wheel of another woman’s car following a night out.

Wayne Rooney arrives at Stockport Magistrates’ Court, where he was charged with drink driving
Wayne Rooney arrives at Stockport Magistrates’ Court, where he was charged with drink driving (Peter Byrne/PA)

At the time, he issued an apology for his “unforgivable lack of judgment” which he described as “completely wrong”.

It came after Wayne issued a statement in 2004 admitting he had on occasion visited “massage parlours and prostitutes” when he was “very young and immature” and before he had “settled down with Coleen”.

“Since the first mistake he’s made, that’s been in the public, people have not forgiven,” Rooney told fellow campmate Oti Mabuse on the ITV show.

“When things have happened the public have wanted it to just go oh, split, you know, that’s it, split them up. But the fact is, there’s always been love still there…

“It has been difficult, but we’re happy now, after all those years… we’re a team.”

Wayne Rooney with girlfriend Coleen and Manchester United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2004
Wayne Rooney with girlfriend Coleen and Manchester United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2004 (GARETH COPLEY/PA)

Rooney said the couple, who first met at school and began dating aged 16, had “felt older because we had to grow up quick, because we were living in the public eye”.

“All he wanted to do was play football, he struggled with the fame side of it, he hated that,” she said.

“If he could’ve just played football and had none of the fame I think he would’ve been happier within life.”

Rooney admitted that her husband, who is head coach of Championship club Plymouth Argyle, always wrote her poems.

“You know the hotel pads? He was always writing a little poem and putting it in his bag and he’d give it to me when we got home,” she told campmate and podcaster GK Barry.

“They’re nice to keep but I can’t remember the last time he gave me one.”

The episode also saw radio star Dean McCullough bring home four meals for the camp after taking part in The Lethal Lab.

Meanwhile the campmates were ordered to give up their contraband after McCullough smuggled teabags into the jungle, while Tulisa Contostavlos gave up a bag of seasoning which radio presenter Melvin Odoom had distributed to her.

Love Island’s Maura Higgins and writer-turned-broadcaster the Rev Richard Coles were the latest stars to enter the Australian jungle during Thursday’s episode, living in a separate camp named the Jungle Junkyard.

Higgins described the very basic camp as “not liveable”, before the pair discovered it was full of luxuries – which they were tasked with hiding from their other campmates in a mission to win a jungle buffet.

The mission also saw the pair convince the main camp to donate a bed to them, after writing them a heartfelt letter.

Higgins and Coles will take part in a bushtucker trial opposite McFly’s Danny Jones and McCullough named The High Street Of Horrors during Friday’s episode.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX.