Wayne and Coleen Rooney have spent their adult lives avoiding the public gaze, yet now they are about to reveal all in a new Disney+ reality series, The Real Rooneys. The couple, who have been married since 2008, say the show is an opportunity to set the record straight after years of tabloid headlines.
“If you’d said to me 10 years ago, ‘You’re going to be doing a TV show about the family’, I would have said, ‘No chance’,” Wayne Rooney admits. Few would have disagreed, given the couple’s history of shunning the spotlight. But with his management career stalling and her professional life taking off, the timing finally felt right.
A career of highs and lows
Wayne Rooney’s footballing achievements are legendary: 253 goals for Manchester United, overtaking Bobby Charlton’s record; 53 for England, a record until Harry Kane surpassed it in 2023; and he remains England’s youngest goal scorer at 17 years and 317 days. He won five Premier League titles, was twice young player of the year, and was voted player of the year by both peers and journalists in 2009/10.
But it’s the off-pitch scandals that have caused him the most trouble. From drunkenness to allegations of paying for sexual services, his personal life has often overshadowed his professional triumphs. For Coleen, the biggest headline came when she exposed fellow footballer’s wife Rebekah Vardy as the source of leaked Instagram posts, leading to the infamous “Wagatha Christie” trial. Coleen won the case, with Mrs Justice Steyn ruling her allegations were “substantially true”.
Why now? A crossroads in life
Wayne explains that the show came at a pivotal moment. After retiring as a player in 2021, he moved into management, but struggled at Derby County, DC United, Birmingham City, and Plymouth Argyle. At Birmingham he was sacked in January 2024 after winning two of 15 games; at Plymouth he left in December 2024 after winning four of 23 Championship games. “I was at a crossroads,” he says. “I knew if Plymouth didn’t pay off that would probably be my last management job.”
Meanwhile, Coleen’s career was blossoming. The show follows her as she negotiates a women’s clothing range with Primark, a deal reportedly worth more than Wayne’s £400,000-a-year contract with Match of the Day. The couple’s combined fortune is estimated at £200m, with Coleen worth £15m in her own right.
Marriage, rows, and reality
Despite their fame, the Rooneys insist they are like any other couple. “We’ve been on a good run lately, haven’t we? We’ve not had a row for weeks and weeks,” Wayne says. When they do argue, he admits, “It’s more you shouting at me and me just taking it.” Coleen adds, “He goes quiet.” Wayne confesses, “I don’t think I’ve ever won an argument with her.”
Their four sons—Kai, 16, Klay, 13, Kit, 10, and Cass, 8—feature prominently in the show. Kai recently signed his first full-time contract with Manchester United, and Klay is in United’s academy. Wayne is cautious about predicting professional careers for all four: “I don’t know,” he whispers, as if not wanting to tempt fate.
Lessons from the past
The couple have been open with their children about Wayne’s past mistakes, including a 2017 drink-driving incident that led Coleen to leave home temporarily. “We’ve spoken to our kids about lots of things, because there have been things in the newspapers that I’ve done that they’re going to see,” Wayne says. Coleen adds, “If our kids ask us questions we’re straight with them. Obviously not when they were little, but as they’ve been growing up we’ve dealt with things and said, ‘This is wrong, you should never do this, but things do happen.’”
Wayne acknowledges that his drinking was linked to the pressures of his career. “At the time you don’t realise you’re feeling the pressure as much as I probably was,” he says. “I wouldn’t go to Coleen and say, ‘You know what, I feel like I’m under pressure to perform for Man United and England.’” He now says, “If I feel a bit down I’ll say to Coleen, ‘I feel shit.’”
The Real Rooneys also shows the family visiting Auschwitz, a decision driven by their son Kit’s school project on World War Two. Wayne had visited the site during Euro 2012, saying, “It put a lot of things into perspective.”
As for the show’s authenticity, Coleen admits there were difficult moments. “There was one time when they wanted us to come together for a talk and I was like, ‘I’m not talking to him, so why would I do that for the show when we genuinely aren’t talking?’” Wayne adds, “It would have been easier for us not to talk about that on camera.”
Ultimately, they hope viewers will see them as relatable. “People see us as a married couple with four kids who go through tough periods like any married couple,” Coleen says. “Even though we’ve been in the spotlight for so many years, our morals and lives are still similar to the everyday person. I think people will watch this and see we’re actually really relatable.”
The Real Rooneys is available on Disney+ from 24 September.
