Coleen Rooney has revealed that she considered separating from her husband Wayne as she opened up about their marriage struggles in the couple's new TV series.
The pair, both aged 40, married in 2008 after first meeting as teenagers, after Wayne's football career took off. The couple have weathered various storms over their 24-year relationship, from cheating scandals to drink-driving charges.
Coleen's candid admission
In their new docuseries, The Real Rooneys, Coleen opened up on their relationship woes. She candidly said: "There are times where I think 'Is the answer to see what it's like if we were separated?'." "But we still care for each other; we still have good times. You know, we still love each other."
At another point in the series, which drops on Thursday, September 24, she tells her husband: "It's been a bit of a lads holiday for you, staying up all night. You can't just keep doing what you do."
"It is not fair of everyone else. It is only you that can fix it because no one else is doing it. I'm just hoping that things change."
Past controversies
During the early years of their marriage, Wayne's various alleged infidelities were front page news – with The Sunday Mirror reporting in 2010 that he had slept with a sex worker while Coleen was five-months pregnant with their first son, Kai.
Six years prior to that, Wayne confessed to soliciting sex workers in Liverpool while dating Coleen. "I was young and stupid. It was at a time when I was very young and immature and before I had settled down with Coleen," he said reflectively of the decision.
In 2017, the former Manchester United player was involved in a drink-driving incident. Wayne had been driving the car of a woman he had met in the Bubble Room bar in Alderley Edge. He was banned from driving for two years after pleading guilty to being almost three times over the limit, in what he described as a "terrible mistake".
Public scrutiny and family life
Coleen spoke about their relationship woes whilst appearing on I'm a Celebrity in 2024. Speaking to fellow campmate Oti Mabuse, she said: "Since the first mistake he's made, that's been in the public eye, people have not forgiven.
"When things have happened, the public have wanted it to just go oh, split, you know, that's it, split them up. But the fact is, there's always been love still there. It has been difficult, but we're happy now, after all those years... we're a team."
Elsewhere in the new Disney+ docuseries, the couple, sitting down with their four children Kai, Klay, Kit, and Cass, admitted that they hadn't spoken in days. All ten episodes of the new series, The Real Rooneys, will be available to stream on Disney+ from Thursday, September 24.
