Rebekah Vardy says she is probably suffering with PTSD after Wagatha Christie trial

Rebekah Vardy believes she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after losing the so-called 'Wagatha Christie' legal battle against Coleen Rooney.

The wife of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy revealed she had been taken to hospital twice since the episode began.

Mrs Vardy, 40, said she felt as though her life was “falling apart” and she was exhausted “physically, emotionally and mentally”.

In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney, 36, said she had carried out a “sting operation” and accused Mrs Vardy of sending “false stories” about her private life to the press.

Mrs Vardy brought a High Court libel battle against Mrs Rooney, wife of former England star Wayne Rooney.

The judge ruled that although it was "likely" Mrs Vardy's agent leaked Mrs Rooney's information to The Sun, evidence "clearly" shows Mrs Vardy "knew of and condoned this behaviour".

She spoke about the fallout during a new tell-all interview with The Sun - the paper she was accused of leaking Mrs Rooney's information to.

Mrs Vardy said she had been admitted to hospital twice to be treated for mental health issues since the original post in 2019.

Mrs Vardy told the newspaper she was having panic attacks, and had suffered kidney stones brought on by stress.

She said the stress of the case left her feeling like her life was falling apart.

She added: “It was draining. I had to go to hospital a couple of times because they were really worried about my mental wellbeing.

“And since the court case, I think I’m probably suffering with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

“I feel physically sick when I talk about the trial and what happened, and I have nightmares."

Mrs Vardy said she had not yet sought a mental health diagnosis, but added she knew she needed therapy.

She told the paper she was “scared to be out in public places” after receiving up to 100 abusive messages per day.

Mrs Vardy said some people “went the extra mile” to abuse her – even linking her with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and membership of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group.

Ms Vardy on how she'd react if she saw her fellow footballer's wife in the street

She told The Sun: “The whole thing has been awful. At its worst, I was worried to be on my own, to leave the house. I was scared to be out in public places.

“Even the smallest things, like going shopping, were horrendous.”

She said she had been stunned by the willingness of some people to abuse her to her face in public places, as well as online.

“It was as if I’d murdered someone.”

Mrs Vardy said her husband had advised her not to read the messages that were sent to her,

but that she found them hard to ignore when the abuse was directed at her family, and particularly her children.

Mrs Vardy said she had subsequently increased her personal protection to include a full-time security chief at her home in Leicestershire.

She described how she had phoned Mrs Rooney to confront her about the original post, which was put online in October 2019.

“I picked up the phone and I called her and basically said ‘what the f*** is this?’ and her response was quite, I don’t know, quite rude, quite harsh,” she said.

“She basically just said, ‘you know what this is?’ And at that point, I really didn’t know what it was.

“I’d read the words and you know when you read something, and it’s like reading it about someone else.

“And it’s like, ‘no, surely this is not real. This can’t be real’.”

She added: “No one would do something so sinister knowing that they were weaponising a fan base against someone.”

Listen to the ITV News entertainment podcast Unscripted

Despite the decision against her, Mrs Vardy said that if she were to see Mrs Rooney “in the street tomorrow” she would “ask her if she wanted to go for a Caffe Nero”.

“Life is too short to be resentful and hold grudges and be bitter towards someone. That is not me. I am not that person,” she said.

In another interview with TalkTV’s Kate McCann, Mrs Vardy appeared to get emotional and described feeling “let down by the legal system”.

Rebekah Vardy: Coleen and me airs on TalkTV on August 3 at 7pm.