Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney are currently going toe-to-toe at the High Court in London in what is one of the most high profile UK libel battles in recent years.
It all started in October 2019, when Rooney, the wife of former England striker Wayne Rooney, publicly accused Vardy, the wife of Leicester City and former England striker Jamie Vardy, of leaking information about her personal life to The Sun.
In a now infamous tweet, Rooney claimed that in order to deduce Vardy was sharing stories with the newspaper, she wrote made-up tales on her Instagram stories, allowed only Vardy to see them, and then waited to see if they would appear in The Sun.
Rooney claimed three false stories that only Vardy had seen did end up in the paper — one about her travelling to Mexico for a "gender selection" procedure, one about her planning to return to television, and one about her basement flooding.
"It's ………. Rebekah Vardy's account," she wrote on Twitter.
Rooney's detective work earned her the nickname "Wagatha Christie," referencing the nickname for the partners of British football stars – WAGs, meaning "wives and girlfriends" — and the famous detective fiction author Agatha Christie.
Vardy has consistently denied the accusations and in June 2020, decided to sue Rooney for libel.
After months months of preliminary hearings, none of which were attended by either Vardy or Rooney, the seven-day trial began at the High Court on the Strand, London, on Tuesday.
At the trial, Rooney must show that she has proof that Vardy was behind the leaks, or that making the accusation against Vardy was in the public interest.
On the opening day of the trial, Rooney's lawyers argued that they may not be able to conclusively prove Vardy was behind the leaks, but likened the case to a detective story, such as those written by Christie.
"In essence, this is a detective story, and like any good detective story, you never find a person standing over the body with a smoking gun," Rooney's barrister David Sherborne said, per the Independent.
"You do not have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt, you just have to conclude that it is more likely than not that Mrs Vardy was responsible."
The trial has now entered its fourth day, with Vardy taking the stand on the first three days, and Rooney appearing Friday. Read on to see the key details from the first days of the trial.