Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Coleen Rooney says she’s forgiven Wayne for cheating but it ‘wasn’t acceptable’

The pair lift the lid on their 20-year relationship in an upcoming documentary on Amazon Prime

Kate Ng
Thursday 10 February 2022 15:11 GMT
Comments
Manchester United football player Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen Rooney
Manchester United football player Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen Rooney (Getty Images)

Coleen Rooney, the wife of former England footballer Wayne Rooney, says she has forgiven her husband for “cheating on her multiple times”.

The TV personality said she has “moved on” from the incidents, but added that Wayne’s behaviour at the time “wasn’t acceptable”.

In a new Amazon Prime documentary, Rooney, which will be released on Friday 11 February, Coleen said: “Life goes on and I’ve moved on. You’ve moved on. Not the behaviour, no. It’s not acceptable.

“Forgiveness I’d say is different. It’s not acceptable what he’s done but it’s happened and that was a stage of life that we were in at the time. But we’ve moved on.

“I forgive him but it wasn’t acceptable. If it comes up we talk about it like we are talking about it now. I haven’t got the anger I did at the time.”

In 2010, Wayne faced allegations that he cheated on Coleen with three sex workers while she was pregnant in 2002. Two of the women, who claimed they regularly slept with the Manchester United star, issued statements of apology to Coleen.

One of the women, Jenny Thompson, told News of the World: “I’m very sorry for my part in this. It’s a horrible thing to learn your husband has cheated on you. Particularly when you’re pregnant.”

The other, Helen Wood, told the Sunday Mirror: “I wish this had never happened. I’m sorry for all the hurt that you’ve been through. It was a mistake. I can’t apologise enough.”

In the new documentary, Coleen says it is “amazing” that the couple “are where we are today”.

“We’re lucky that we both had the strength and support of each other and the people around us to keep going. That’s something we’ve had to work hard for,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be standing here if I hadn’t forgiven him.”

Ahead of the documentary’s release, Wayne told the Daily Mail that he has made “mistakes” during his 20-year relationship with Coleen and spoke about his “self-binges” with alcohol.

He said he wanted people to see “every side of him” through the documentary, adding: “There have been mistakes in the past, which I have always held my hands up to.

“It was tough for me to do it and for Coleen to do it. When tough moments have come up, we have sat down and spoke about them and figured out how we are going to get through it.”

The couple began dating at the age of 16 and were married in 2008 when Coleen was 21 and Wayne was 22. They have four children together, 12-year-old Kai, eight-year-old Klay, six-year-old Kit, and three-year-old Cass.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in