From WAG to queen of the jungle: the rise and rise of Coleen Rooney

At the height of her husband’s fame, Coleen Rooney appeared to be just another WAG: one of the “wives and girlfriends” who trailed around after their footballing partners at tournaments around the world. The assuredly sexist term gained huge popularity during the 2006 World Cup, focusing on Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole and Rooney and implying they were utterly defined by who they were sleeping with.

How things have changed. Having survived her husband Wayne’s occasional indiscretions, and a high-profile, high-risk court case, too, Coleen Rooney is forging a reputation absolutely of her own.

Currently, she is in the jungle in Australia, competing in the latest series of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! – another potentially precarious move, but one she appears to be taking in her stride.

“She is resolute and she is smart,” said the PR consultant Mark Borkowski. “When Coleen was at the heart of things attending events as a WAG, that wasn’t really her. That is not what she was, and it is not what she is now.”

Coleen Rooney among other wives and girlfriends at the World Cup in Germany in 2006. Photograph: Mark Large/ANL/Rex/Shutterstock
Once the show is over, he predicted TV companies would be “falling at her feet” in an effort to sign her up – though his prediction came with a caveat.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/06/the-rise-of-rooney-coleen