Coleen Rooney has described Liverpool as "very welcoming" and "very warm", reflecting on how her upbringing in the city shaped her before her rise to fame alongside husband Wayne Rooney.
The mum-of-four made the comments during an appearance on Paul Brunson's "We Need To Talk" podcast, released on Tuesday, where she discussed her early life, her first date with Wayne, and growing up in the public eye.
Growing up in Liverpool
Asked what Liverpool means to her, Coleen said: "It's very welcoming, it's very warm. We look after our own, we look after each other and we protect each other. We are very welcoming but if you do one thing wrong, we would stand up for that person. We've got a good sense of humour and we're easygoing."
Speaking about her childhood, she said: "The core of it was my parents. My mum is one of eight, my dad is one of five. We had a really big family, loads of cousins and a very open house."
She added: "My childhood house was the house my mum grew up in. Every Saturday it would be filled because that was the hub, all my aunties and uncles and cousins. My mum would make a chilli or do scones. It was a really loving household. Don't get me wrong, sometimes kids were fighting like in any normal house, but I loved that."
Meeting Wayne
Coleen explained she didn't choose to be in the public eye, but instead "got brought into it" due to her relationship with Wayne. She told Paul: "I got brought into it, I didn't put myself in the public eye. Now I look back and think I made the most of it."
The couple met when they were 12 years old, but Coleen didn't "give him a date" until they were 16. She said: "Our families knew each other, we grew up together. My dad ran the local boxing gym with Wayne's uncle. We first started to get to know each other around 12."
She added: "He was always after me and wanted to date. He always says he knew I was the one. But I was busy, I didn't go out and hang around on the street as much, because I'd go to dance and go to drama and do my homework. He went to the all boys catholic school and I went to the all girls, they were literally around the corner from each other. I found him funny, charming, but he was a typical boy. He got into mischief and probably stayed out later that he should've some nights."
She continued: "We got together when we were 16, I'd just finished my GCSEs and I thought, I'll give him that date that he's wanted. I think his humour won me over. His cheekiness, being really confident as well."
The Real Rooneys
The childhood sweethearts went on to become huge names in UK media. Wayne proposed in 2003, and they married in 2008 in Italy. The family-of-six now live in High Lake Manor, a mansion close to Mobberley in Cheshire, set on 50 acres of farmland.
The new Disney Plus series, The Real Rooneys, follows the family as Wayne steps away from football management and Coleen embraces opportunities including designing her own range with Primark. Speaking at the premiere in London, Coleen, 40, said it felt like the right time to show audiences their life at home.
She said: "We don't have to prove ourselves. But what I think is nice is that [the series shows] we are real people. I think people looking at people in the public eye think they're not real and we don't do things everyone else does, so I think they will get a taste of that on the series."
The mum-of-four added: "I think the big thing is the world has changed and everything gets played out on social media, whether you are in the public eye or not. Time has moved on, but also we had a taste of it after doing our own documentary each and having people in the house and filming, which opened our eyes."
She said they were "at a time in our lives when we are ready to open up that little bit more". The Real Rooneys is streaming exclusively on Disney+.
