I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Coleen Rooney recalled her dad’s initial suspicions about her dating Wayne in her teens, before giving his blessing for them to marry.
Coleen Rooney said her husband Wayne Rooney had to work hard to earn the approval of her “strict” father Tony during the early stages of their romance. The pair, who were childhood sweethearts before tying the knot in 2008 aged 22, initially made Coleen’s protective dad suspicious, before Wayne won him over.
Recalling their first date, the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant admits her dad only allowed her to go on one condition. She wrote in her 2023 autobiography My Account: “Dad eyed me up suspiciously. ‘You can go as long as you sit at the back and he sits at the front’.
“With dad’s blessing, or at least his version of one, Wayne and I went off to the cinema followed by a dinner date at the local McDonalds.” Reflecting on a separate moment at her home before they were an item, Coleen, 38, shared how her dad’s angry side once left Wayne “mortified”.
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She explained: “After the footy, Wayne switched the TV to the Channel 4 show Eurotrash, which was this brash, late night magazine show – very rude and always full of sex stories and naked people. A few minutes after it came on, my dad walked into the living room and went completely off his head. ‘Don’t be having this on in my house, it’s disgusting. Get it off!'”
Growing up with a strict father, Coleen admits “Wayne had his work cut out” when it came to winning him over. Dad was strict to compared to most of my friends’ parents, but it was always balanced,” she added. Despite this, Wayne’s wife expressed surprise at some of the freedoms her parents granted her during those early days.
She recalls her father’s understanding approach of being with a famous footballer: “‘You were in a situation where you had to grow up fast, but I knew you were sensible’.” Coleen acknowledges that she had “no choice” but to mature swiftly amidst intense media scrutiny.
“There was suddenly a lot riding on Wayne, a lot of expectation and pressure on his young shoulders, and consequently, a few sacrifices to be made,” she reflected. After getting to know Wayne better, her father Tony gave his blessing for the then 17-year-old Coleen to be engaged.
The couple tied the knot five years later in a grand ceremony in Portofino, Italy, where Tony humorously compared his initial impressions of Wayne to the film Meet The Fockers in his speech. The Rooneys have since welcomed four sons; Kai, now 13, Klay, 10, Kit, seven, and Cass, five.
As Coleen potentially becomes the new Queen of the Jungle in tonight’s ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’s final, her parents and two youngest children await in Australia for a heartfelt reunion.
