Saturday 21 May 2022 08:58 AM PLATELL'S PEOPLE: The Wagatha Christie libel court battle proves we women are ... trends now
Can it really be just ten days ago that the case of the century began in our High Court? It feels as if Wagatha Christie has been going on for ever.
Every media outlet has devoured each stiletto stab between rivals Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy. Now they are bitter adversaries and it has captivated the nation, even if we don’t wish to own up to our guilty fascination.
AMANDA PLATELL: Women are judgmental in a way men rarely are
Is this because the case shines a harsh light on a hard truth: that many women are mean girls at heart? And that men like to watch a catfight?
For those just arriving from Mars, this is the battle to the death for the reputations of two WAGs, or footballers’ wives. We are either Team Rooney or Team Vardy. Both have spent an estimated £1.5 million on lawyers fighting the case.
Also about £50,000 on designer clothes, with Rebekah winning the fashion stakes but Coleen the sympathy vote, with her broken ankle in a support boot and one Gucci loafer.
What lies behind our captivation with this High Court scrap is a subliminal recognition that women can be truly nasty to each other.
Colleen Rooney (left) and Rebekah Vardy (right) have spent around £1.5million each on lawyers
Is it hardwired into our DNA to whisper behind a friend’s back: ‘I wouldn’t have worn that with her thighs.’ Or: ‘She looks so great, she’s lost weight, she’s clearly having an affair.’ Despite the advances of feminism, even women juggling families and careers still casually judge each other in a primeval way; the survival of the fittest and the slimmest.
There is always the question of whether casual compliments — a younger girlfriend recently told me I ‘still looked good for my age’ — are actually a way of undermining us.
How often does a woman come home from work upset that a man has said something unkind to her? Not very. Women can be judgmental in a way men rarely are.
Coleen’s and Rebekah’s husbands Wayne and Jamie, who had walk-on roles in this bitch-fest, prove that.
When did you last hear a man saying a male friend was wearing a lousy suit that showed how fat he was? They’re just not bothered.
Perhaps our obsession with the Wagatha trial is a wake-up call for the sisterhood. Are we always there for our girlfriends, good times and bad? Are we really the emotionally superior sex? Whatever the verdict, I know we women can do better.
There's the added bonus we no longer have to hear about RiRi's bump
Rihanna has a healthy baby boy, a month after her rapper boyfriend A$AP Rocky was arrested by the LA police in connection with a shooting in Hollywood. Mother and child are resting at her LA home, but no mention of Dad. A new child is always great news — but there’s the added bonus we won’t have to see another picture of RiRi parading her baby bump.
Westminster WarsMay I humbly suggest to the dour former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer, that his best defence against charges of drinking beer with 15 people during Covid is that he couldn’t find five to party with him to save his life.
A bad moment for Chancellor Sunak as he and his wife’s joint £730 million fortune lands them in the Sunday Times Rich List. Cash-strapped Brits will now find it even harder to believe Richy Rishi’s claims that he feels their pain. Most Chancellors only coin it once they’ve been sacked, which for Sunak must surely be very soon.
Despite Labour and the Guardian’s ‘fury’ as the PM escapes the police inquiry into Partygate without a second fine, most of us know it’s time to move on to matters more pertinent, such as the tanking
