Rebekah Vardy struggled to fight back tears on Loose Women when discussing the impact that the Coleen Rooney row had on her mental health. The mum-of-five, who welcomed baby Olivia with footballer husband Jamie in January, spoke candidly to the panel when explaining the anxiety she had as a result of the trolling she received, soon after the news of their rift broke.
WATCH: The moment Rebekah Vardy breaks down over Coleen Rooney row
Appearing on Thursday's edition of the ITV talk show, Rebekah struggled to hold back tears as she began to discuss the difficulties she faced. "It was really, really hard," she said. "It's probably up there with one of the worst things that I've had to deal with, apart from being abused by my stepdad when I was younger." On the abuse she had received from trolls online after the news broke, she continued: "It kind of just escalated really… The trolling was the worst part for me and my family, I have been trolled before and I do get it all the time but it kind of escalated off the back of this... this was a whole new level."
Rebekah once again struggled to contain her emotions when she told the panel and audience of the harrowing message she received from one particular troll. She said: "I had people messaging me saying nasty stuff one in particular [said] 'you fat ugly rat I hope you and your baby rot'... people don't realise when they're saying stuff like that."
MORE: Rebekah Vardy reveals Coleen Rooney BLOCKED her months ago before public spat
© Photo: RexRebekah appeared on Loose Women to discuss the row with Colleen
In the aftermath of the row, Rebekah, who was seven months pregnant at the time, said that she and her team were taking legal action to resolve the case. She told the panel: "I have to be really careful about what I say about it at the minute." The trolling had such an impact on Rebekah that she started to have panic attacks and was even hospitalised. "I ended up with severe anxiety attacks, I ended up in hospital three times and had kidney stones." She continued: "I felt like I couldn't go out, and felt that people were looking and questioning me 'did she do it, did she not do it.'"
In October, Coleen, wife of professional football star Wayne, sensationally hit out at Rebekah, accusing the former I'm a Celebrity contestant of selling stories from her private Instagram account to The Sun newspaper. Taking to Twitter, the mum-of-four posted a statement revealing that she suspected that Rebekah had been sharing her private information online, and went to some lengths to prove it, even planting fake stories on Instagram to see if the newspaper would report them.
Exclusive: Jamie and Rebekah Vardy introduce baby girl and reveal adorable name
Rebekah has since welcomed her baby daughter Olivia
Rebekah has since responded to the accusations, saying she is not responsible for the leaks. Posting on Twitter, at the time, she wrote: "As I just said to you on the phone, I wish you had called me if you thought this. I never speak to anyone about you as various journalists who have asked me to over the years can vouch for. If you thought this was happening you could have told me and I could have changed my passwords to see if it stopped. Over the years various people have had access to my Insta and just this week I found I was following people I didn't know and have never followed myself."
The post continued: "I'm not being funny, but I don't need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you? I liked you a lot Coleen and I'm so upset that you have chosen to do this, especially when I am heavily pregnant. I'm disgusted that I'm even having to deny this. You should have called me the first time this happened."
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