How Rebekah Vardy will make money from Coleen Rooney's I'm A ...

Rebekah Vardy looks set to cash in from her rival Coleen Rooney's I'm A Celebrity stint thanks to a newspaper column and trademarking the term 'Wagatha Christie'.

Ant and Dec made a brutal Vardy joke just minutes into the ITV show, saying: "It’ll be nice for Coleen to face a trial that doesn’t involve Rebekah Vardy." Then Dean McCullough called Rooney "Wagatha Christie" as soon as he met her. Vardy showed it didn't bother her though as she wrote on social media: "That feeling when you are living rent free in people's heads."

It's no secret Wagatha Christie will be a huge talking point that will rumble on through the series. The WAGs have had one of the most extraordinary and famous fallouts in the UK showbiz world that has played out on social media and in court.

It all started when Rooney outed Rebekah Vardy's Instagram account as the source of leaks about her personal life to the press in 2019. She got her the nickname "Wagatha Christie" for using her "detective" skills to work out where the leak was coming from.

In 2022, a judge ruled this was "substantially true" and later ordered Vardy to pay 90% of Rooney’s costs. Five years since the row started, it's still very bitter between the two of them.

Coleen Rooney is the highest paid star on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here 2024. (ITV)

Rooney wants to be on I'm A Celebrity to the very end and she's rumoured to be the highest ever paying contestant. She's not the only one who will be cashing in on her stint in the jungle as Vardy — who starred on I'm A Celebrity in 2017 — will make money too.

Ahead of the launch show, Vardy was named as The Sun's I'm A Celebrity columnist. It's not known how much she will be paid for her new position but we know she will definitely be talking all about her rival and how she wants to see her struggle in the jungle.

Not holding back, she said she wanted to see Rooney eat "penis or humble pie".

Read more

All the different Wagatha Christie TV shows

I’m A Celebrity's highest paid stars as Coleen Rooney set for 'big pay day'

Coleen Rooney says Wagatha Christie was 'draining': 'It took time away from my life'

Vardy — who is on holiday in Dubai with her footballer husband Jamie — has vowed to be "avidly" watching the ITV jungle show. In fact, she made a plea to TV bosses to put her in the jungle so she can confront Rooney and have it play out on the reality show.

Rebekah Vardy will be commenting on Coleen Rooney in the I'm A Celebrity jungle. (ITV)

She added to the newspaper: "But if people really want us to meet up before that, then ITV should get me in that jungle as a special guest. What are they scared of? Confrontation? But isn’t that what the show’s all about? It’s about viewing figures."

In addition, ITV bosses could have to pay Vardy for Rooney's stint in the jungle because she has the phrase "Wagatha Christie" trademarked.

Comedian Dan Atkinson who coined the famous phrase shared his reaction to hearing Vardy had it trademarked. He wrote for The Guardian last year: "When I found out I was initially dumbfounded. I wasn’t even aware it was possible to trademark a joke. If jokes start getting bought up then British humour has a bleak future."

Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy have famously fell out. (Getty)

Radio 1 DJ McCullough was the first to say it on camera during this year's I'm A Celeb... when meeting Rooney for the first time after his skydive during the launch episode.

The Mirror reported the trademark covers broadcast and while fair dealing will cover some usage of the phrase, broadcasters will have to licence the trademark if they want to use it throughout the series and for promo for it.

Naturally it would be bizarre for ITV to avoid using it all together. Yahoo has reached out to ITV for further comment.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here airs nightly on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.