With her ongoing rivalry with Coleen Rooney still red hot, in Rebekah Vardy’s world, and with Christmas approaching, what is good for the goose appears to be good for the gander.
Mrs Vardy is said to be ‘desperate’ to fight back with her own new reality TV show after Coleen’s hit Disney docu-series all about her Wagatha Christie High Court victory.
Mrs Rooney is also fresh from ITV’s I’m a Celebrity where she finished second after braving multiple Bushtucker Trials including one where she downed blended pig’s testicles and cockroaches.
On the menu next for Rebekah, who was famously voted out of the jungle early in her 2017 stint, could be her own Kardashian-style fly on the wall documentary – with a bit of help from her footballer husband Jamie.
Mr Vardy is going to get the Netflix treatment – two years after Wayne Rooney’s Amazon documentary – with a film about his journey from non-league journeyman to Premier League winner and England star.
However, the Vardy show will also offer glimpses of his home life, including scenes with his wife. And if it is a success, the door is expected too swing open for Rebekah to get her own fly-on the-wall series.
But experts told today that Rebekah’s ‘polarising’ personality will be hit and miss with viewers at a time when the Rooneys are being lined up as the next celebrity family to star in a fly-on-the-wall TV series with rival streaming giants Disney and Amazon in a bidding war.
A TV production source with links to Netflix told today that the streaming giant is very keen. But will insist the Vardys make the rumoured show for much less than they’d offer to the Rooneys or the Beckhams.
‘They will be cheap. Rebekah has been touting a show like this for years. She wants a fly on the wall series for herself’, ’s insider said. Netflix know that her desperation to be famous knows no end’.
Coleen was paid more than £2million following a bidding war won by Disney for her ‘Real Wagatha Story’ mini-series.
‘The Vardy’s will be paid about £500,000 for the show. I don’t think it’ll be in the millions as they are not really known internationally and so the show won’t resonate for foreign markets as much as a Rooney or Beckham show does’, the source added.
A payday from Netflix would help Rebekah with her legal bills from the Rooney High Court case said to be around £1.7million.
Brand and Culture expert Nick Ede said that a Netflix show would be a ratings winner – but Rebekah would split viewers.
‘This will be car crash viewing that will hit the headlines. It’ll open up the behind the scenes dynamic of their marriage and we all know that because of Rebekah’s actions she is still having to pay the court fees against the Rooneys.
‘Rebekah is such a polarising figure that she may win more fans with this warts and all show but they are no match for the Rooneys or the Beckhams and their life just isn’t that glamorous against Selling Sunset or the Kardashians so I think in the long run it’ll be a flash in the pan that’ll cool off quickly’.
Industry sources say the Rooney camp have been discussing an ‘at-home-with’ project to follow 38-year-old Coleen’s current stint on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity.
They will join an illustrious list of families to invite cameras into their homes, following the Osbournes, the Kardashians and – from tomorrow – the Rees-Moggs. One insider said: ‘Wayne and Coleen are keen on the idea. It would give them the opportunity to show fans how they live their lives.
‘They are fascinating and, as you can imagine, it’s all a bit of a madhouse round at the Rooneys. But they are really well liked and they look like they are a right laugh.
‘It is an idea which has been floating around for a little while, but now the kids are older and Coleen wants her own projects it feels like the right time. It will be huge, and bosses at both Amazon and Disney want to get their hands on it.’
It is likely the deal would run into several million pounds as both streamers are keenly aware of the viewing public’s appetite for the inside track on footballers’ home lives.
The Beckhams documentary was the most-watched show on Netflix in the UK last year, and has racked up well over 200 million hours of viewing time globally.
Wayne and Coleen’s four sons, Kai, 14, Kit, 11, Klay, eight, and Cass, six, would also appear on the show.
The couple regularly post pictures of them on Instagram and last week the youngsters all made videos to pay tribute to their mum as she competes to be crowned Queen of the Jungle.
Both Wayne, who has been manager of Plymouth Argyle since May, and Coleen have made documentaries about their lives in the past.
In 2022, the former England striker made a feature-length programme, called Rooney, for Amazon, giving fans an unprecedented insight into his life.
And Coleen made a three-part series about her court battle with Rebekah Vardy, called Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, which aired on Disney last year.
Both were deemed to be huge successes for the streamers. Coleen also hosted her own reality show, Coleen’s Real Women, on ITV2 in 2008, but she gave up her television career to be a stay-at-home mum when she gave birth to Kai in 2010.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians catapulted Kim Kardashian and her four sisters to global fame when it launched on America’s E! channel in 2007. By the time the show ended in 2021, it was estimated to have made them £2 billion.
It comes two months after Rebekah’s arch rival Coleen Rooney was paid ‘millions’ for her new Disney+ documentary Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, which tells the tale of their famous legal battle.
In 2019, Mrs Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, accused Mrs Vardy of leaking her private information to the press on social media.
Mrs Vardy sued her for libel, but Mrs Justice Steyn found in July 2022 that the allegation was ‘substantially true’.
The case has recently made headlines again after Mrs Vardy sought to reduce the bill at the High Court, which included the cost of a stay at the five-star Nobu Hotel for Mrs Rooney’s lead solicitor.
Mrs Rooney stepped back into the spotlight in November when she became a contestant on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Writing a column in The Sun about the show, Mrs Vardy mocked Mrs Rooney’ exploits.
‘Coleen Rooney really is the gift that keeps on giving,’ she said.
Jamie Vardy will also have a lot to gain from the biopic, having expressed fears that he would forever be known as a racist in his 2016 autobiography.
In July 2015, footage emerged of him in a casino telling a Japanese man: ‘Yo, Jap, walk on,’ and repeating the term twice more.
Vardy admitted that he had ‘verbally abused’ the man but said he had acted out of ignorance.
‘The word ‘racist’ is a permanent stain against my name. It’s worse than a criminal record,’ he said.
‘It’s on YouTube when my kids type in their dad’s name and it comes up ‘Jamie Vardy racist’. On Google, too. It’s horrible.’
He added: ‘I like a drink and enjoy being Jack the Lad. I’ve had a few scraps and spent a night in a cell. I can be a pain in the a—. But one thing I’m not, and never will be, is racist.’
During the Wagatha Christie case, Vardy attempted to maintain a low profile but was dragged into the story when Wayne Rooney gave evidence.
The ex-Manchester United striker said England manager Roy Hodgson had been tasked with telling Vardy that his wife was causing problems for the England team at Euro 2016 due to her love of the limelight.
‘I spoke to Mr Vardy and asked him to speak to his wife, to ask his wife to calm down and not bring any issues that were off the field. It was an awkward situation,’ Rooney told the High Court.
Vardy denied that any such conversation had taken place and said: ‘Wayne is talking nonsense.’
Barristers for the women battled in the High Court last month over how much Mrs Vardy should pay in costs after losing a libel action in 2022 and her legal team today confirmed she is challenging the judge’s ruling.
In a three-day hearing, lawyers for Mrs Vardy – the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy – argued that the sum should be reduced due to what they said was ‘serious misconduct’ by Mrs Rooney’s legal team.