Singer Peter Andre has spoken out for the first time since comments made about him dominated proceedings on the first day of the Wagatha Christie libel trial between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy on Tuesday (10 May).
In the proceedings at London’s High Court, Vardy took to the stand to admit she regretted describing Andre's 'manhood' as a “miniature chipolata” in a 2004 interview with the News of the World. Vardy insisted she “deeply regrets” the incident and said she was coerced into giving the interview to the tabloid against her will by her ex-husband, an allegation the ex-husband has previously denied.
Andre, who featured on I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004, took to Instagram to defend his pride. He wrote: “Do you know how hard it is to keep biting my lip on situations? But the way I look at it, most people saw in the jungle how an acorn turned into an oak so I think I’m OK.”
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The Mysterious Girl hitmaker then added: “At least she has now admitted it wasn’t true. And was forced to say it.”
Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne was cross-examining Vardy when he probed her about the newspaper interview in which she went into detail about a claimed sexual encounter with Andre. Mr Sherborne had asked her if she respected people’s privacy, to which she replied: “Yes, I do.”
Mr Sherborne showed her a print of the article in the witness box before reading the headline: “Peter’s hung like a small chipolata, shaved, slobbery, lasts five minutes”. He then read excerpts from the story, which included the line “he had the smallest trouser equipment I’ve ever seen” and managed “just five minutes of sex with Rebekah”.
The News of the World was the highest circulating newspaper at the time, according to Mr Sherborne, with around four million reader, reports the Mirror. He asked Vardy whether it had been “respectful” of Andre’s “right not to share this information”.
She replied: “I was forced into a situation by my ex-husband to do this and it is something that I deeply regret. It is not nice to read and I understand why this is being used – to me, this is mudslinging, and I was also threatened with mudslinging by Mrs Rooney’s team.”
Vardy later revealed she did not ask Mr Andre for his permission or tell him the story was going to happen in advance. Mr Sherborne asked her: “Did you feel particularly strongly about the size of his manhood that it should be made public?”
Vardy, who has been married to Leicester City striker Jamie since 2016 and has three children with him, responded: “It was something that I was forced to say.” The trial continues on Wednesday (11 May).
