Dressed in a series of dramatically beautiful gowns, Coleen Rooney confidently looks straight into the camera as she places herself in a series of elegant poses. Between shots, though, one of the most famous women in the UK stands quietly, content to just take in the scenes around her at this exclusive HELLO! magazine shoot.
Despite having lived her life in the public eye for the past 20 years as the girlfriend, and then wife, of former England footballer Wayne, underneath all the trappings of immense celebrity it's immediately clear when HELLO! meets her that Coleen has remained the same person she has always been: steadfast, loyal and low-key.
And it's this calm confidence which shines through in her autobiography My Account, released this week, as the 37-year-old who has lived more than half her life in the full glare of the public eye finally gets to tell her story for the first time - on her own terms.
Coleen Rooney's new autobiography My Account
"I want to explain who I really am and why I've done things throughout my life and I feel like now's the time to do that," she tells us as we chat about why she chose to write My Account. "I haven't changed, I'm still the same person. I wanted to publish my book hand-in-hand with my Disney+ documentary [Coleen Rooney: the real Wagatha Christie story] and then draw a line under it.
"After that, if people ask me about anything, I can just say 'watch the documentary or read the book'. It's me, setting the record straight and telling my truth. And then I will move on."
After emerging victorious from the bitter libel battle brought against her by Rebekah Vardy, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie, Coleen has been quietly contemplating her next move, which resulted in the book and television documentary.
Marriage challenges with husband Wayne addressed
Opening up like never before, she addresses some of her and Wayne's more testing times in My Account, opening up about discovering that Wayne had been linked to other women, including prostitutes at a massage parlour, and had been caught drunk-driving with a mystery woman in the car.
"I wanted to address these things because it's been part of my life," she says simply. "I wanted to share again why we are still together. I feel like people have said over the years: 'Oh, why is she still there, I would have left'. So I want to tell them my side of what went on and how I was feeling at the time.
"I wanted to explain why I take time and don't rush into things because a lot of people might just end it, but if the love's still there, then why not work at it and see if you can get through it?
"When things have happened there has never been a time where I've just said 'Okay, it's fine'. It's taken a long process to get where we are.
"And that's also what I wanted to explain: you can work at things, you can get through them and still be happy. It might take a long process and it might be difficult but you can still do it."
Wayne's thoughts on Coleen's new book
Although she consulted Wayne, who is now manager at Birmingham City, when recollecting things for the book, she offered him the chance to read over the parts concerning him. But he declined because, she says, "He trusts me and what I say and my value of our relationship."
When he did read the finished version, he enjoyed it. "There were certain parts where we had a giggle although some things were harder to read. But we've dealt with it and now we're in a happier place and have moved on."
My Account by Coleen Rooney (Penguin Michael Joseph £22) is out now
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