Rebekah Vardy has claimed Coleen Rooney “always wanted my life, she’s following in my footsteps” as the wife of former footballer Wayne Rooney prepares to enter the jungle on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.

Vardy, who competed on the ITV reality show in 2017, has been embroiled in a high-profile libel battle with fellow footballer’s wife Rooney since 2019.

Rooney was dubbed Wagatha Christie when she accused Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, of leaking her private information to the press in a viral post on social media.

Leicester City v Southampton – Premier League – King Power Stadium
Rebekah Vardy and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (Mike Egerton/PA)

In July 2022, a judge at the High Court found the post was “substantially true”.

“Everyone seems to think I have this massive problem with Coleen going into the jungle,” Vardy said in an interview with the Sun newspaper.

“But do you know what? If you want to fan the fire, the flames are going to get higher.

“I wasn’t going to carry on talking about this, I had no intentions of talking about it but she clearly can’t let it go.

“We’ve done a book, we’ve done a documentary, we’re going into the jungle.

“I think she always wanted my life, she’s following in my footsteps.”

I�m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
Coleen Rooney will take part in series 24 of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! on ITV (ITV/Yoshitaka Kono/PA)

Vardy said there are “no hard feelings” towards Rooney for appearing on the same reality shows as her, but “the hard feelings are still there for what she caused”.

The 42-year-old said the abuse she endured while Rooney allegedly “sat back and allowed that to happen will never be forgiven, ever”.

“If people want to go and celebrate Coleen as some sort of hero for doing what she did, then they need to remember what she did and what I went through in the form of abuse I suffered off the back of something that wasn’t for public consumption,” Vardy told the Sun.

“Everything Coleen does is quite calculated,” she added.

‘Wagatha Christie’ trial
Rebekah and Jamie Vardy leave the Royal Courts Of Justice (Yui Mok/PA)

Rooney is set to appear in the jungle alongside former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse, ex-champion boxer Barry McGuigan, N-Dubz band member Tulisa Contostavlos, Coronation Street actor Alan Halsall, Loose Women’s Jane Moore and McFly singer Danny Jones.

Also heading to the Australian outback are BBC Radio 1 stars Dean McCullough and Melvin Odoom, and Loose Women star and internet personality GK Barry.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returns on Sunday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.