‘Wagatha Christie’: from serious legal argument to pop-culture event

Analysis: The way Coleen Rooney controlled her public persona made Rebekah Vardy's approach seem dated

• Rebekah Vardy loses Wagatha Christie' libel case against Coleen Rooney

If intrusive wall-to-wall coverage of the lives of footballer's wives and girlfriends (so-called Wags) was a creation of tabloid newspapers in the 2000s, then the Wagatha Christie" libel trial acted as a season finale for that particular era of celebrity culture.

The endless WhatsApp messages sent by Rebekah Vardy, - in which she discussed how she'd love to leak stories to newspapers, tipped off the Sun about the drink-driving arrest of a footballer and talked about relations with paparazzi photographers - came across as not only grubby but dated.