Rebekah Vardy could be forced to provide Coleen Rooney with copies of any conversations she has had with journalists at the Sun, following the latest twist in the long-running “Wagatha Christie” libel case. In a victory for Rooney, the high court ruled on Wednesday that Vardy’s past communications with journalists at the tabloid were relevant to the case, as they may indicate she was more likely to leak private information about Rooney to the same reporters. As a result the court will consider claims that Vardy was “heavily engaged on social media with various Sun journalists” and allegations she was the individual behind a gossip column entitled The Secret Wag – named after the wives and girlfriends of England players. The ruling means Rooney’s lawyers may now seek to obtain any communications between Vardy and current and former Sun journalists including Simon Boyle, Dan Wootton, Hannah Hope, Andy Halls, Amy Brookbanks and Beth Neil. The two wives of ex-England footballers have been locked in a legal battle ever since Rooney alleged in 2019 that Vardy was passing information from a private Instagram account to the Sun. Rooney says she posted a series of fake updates on her life to the Instagram account and slowly reduced the number of people who could see it until only Vardy remained. When the stories continued to appear in the Sun, Rooney went public and stated “It’s……………. Rebekah Vardy’s account” that was responsible, prompting Vardy to sue for libel. The pair have so far failed to find a solution in mediation and refused to settle the case out of court. With the case heading to trial, where potentially many embarrassing details could be revealed, the losing side could be left with a multimillion-pound bill for costs as a result of the two-year legal dispute. Vardy also failed to block Rooney’s attempt to use a public interest defence for publishing the information and also failed to win a quick ruling on other aspects of the case. She could now face a substantial bill for costs relating to the extra hearing. The case has not been plain sailing for Rooney, who has suffered some setbacks. Last year the high court ruled that she had to prove that it was Vardy, not simply someone with access to Vardy’s Instagram account, who was leaking the information to the Sun. Among other issues considered by Mrs Justice Steyn was whether Vardy had arranged for a paparazzo to photograph her with other England players’ partners outside a Moscow pizza restaurant during the 2018 World Cup. The judge also ruled on the relevance of a claim that Vardy had moved seats at England’s Euro 2016 match against Wales to sit next to the more famous Rooney, in order to ensure her picture appeared in newspapers. On this issue the judge found in Vardy’s favour and concluded this specific claim was irrelevant to the case at hand: “The fact that a person seeks media coverage of their own attendance at a football match does not make it more probable that they would disclose private information about another person to the press.”