Wayne Rooney has said his marriage to Coleen is in a "much better place" after he gave up alcohol and lost more than three stone. The 41-year-old former footballer is swapping his Cheshire mansion for the Australian jungle for the upcoming series of I'm A Celebrity, which starts on ITV on Monday, November 16.
Rooney's health transformation
The former England captain has shared that the couple are much happier since he stopped drinking and lost weight. He said Coleen has noticed a difference in his appearance as well as his overall happiness.
Wayne said: "She's obviously happy because I think, from a point of view of our marriage, it's in a better place, in a much happier place. And so that obviously makes a difference."
He added: "She's obviously said I look a lot better, but also from a mental point of view, I'm in such a better place as well."
Quitting alcohol and training
Speaking about how it has changed his daily life, the former Everton star said: "Having stopped drinking for almost six months now it does help in terms of your food.
"I've just been eating, to be honest, probably as healthy as I've ever eaten over that period, and then training, getting back into a routine of training. So obviously it all ties in and all helps. And then I had weight to lose as well. So I think I'm just in a really good place, a really happy place."
The couple met as teenagers in Liverpool and have been married for more than 18 years. They have four sons, Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass. His decision to quit drinking for six months came alongside the release of the Rooney's Disney Plus documentary and before his entry into the jungle.
Jungle preparation and family reactions
He said: "I think I got to a stage where I probably needed to, regardless anyway. But knowing that I was going into the jungle was a big part of it, and also I was preparing well for this in terms of cutting down on food and making sure I'm in the best possible place to handle what's thrown at me in here."
Asked exactly how much weight he had lost, he said: "Probably over 20 kilograms." He added: "That's over the space of years, though. That's not just for the last six months."
Wayne also revealed that his four sons have very different views about their dad appearing on the ITV show. He said: "My two younger ones are excited, but my two elder ones just don't want me to embarrass them, so that's a challenge for me to do that."
Following Coleen's footsteps
Wayne is part of the 2026 line-up and hopes to follow in Coleen's footsteps, who took part in the programme in 2024. The mum-of-four finished in second place behind McFly's Danny Jones, who was crowned King of the Jungle.
Wayne was impressed by Coleen's performance two years ago and would love to go one better by winning the show, but he insisted there was no serious rivalry between them.
He said: "Obviously, I was very proud of Coleen and her time in the jungle. I thought she'd been brilliant. And then obviously it's a different set of people in there, so the outcome could be completely different.
"And if I was to win it, then great. If not, I've always wanted to do the show, and it's something which I'm delighted to be able to do. As I said, there's no competition, but I would like to do a little bit better than her. So we'll see."
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here starts Monday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
