Coleen Rooney has admitted she sometimes wondered whether separation from her “careless” husband Wayne could be the answer, after a series of heated arguments featured in their new Disney+ documentary.
The couple, both 40, have opened the doors to their family life in the £10million fly-on-the-wall series The Real Rooneys. Filmed last year, the show also features their four sons: Kai, 16, Klay, 13, Kit, 10, and eight-year-old Cass.
Despite their public profile, the programme shows that life at home is not always harmonious. The former England footballer and I’m A Celebrity star revealed that arguments can leave them refusing to speak for several days.
Speaking directly to the camera after another disagreement during a holiday, Coleen gave an unusually candid assessment of their marriage. “There are times when I think the answer to everything is to see what it’s like if we are separated,” she said.
Her comments followed a frank conversation in which the couple discussed the breakdown in communication between them. Sitting together on the sofa, Wayne explained: “We haven’t spoke for four days, this is the first time we’ve talked.”
Coleen said she hoped their planned break would give them a chance to rebuild their connection. “I’m hoping a break will help us to reconnect. A really nice weekend away for us to have some time together. That’s if I don’t kill him first,” she joked.
Coleen Rooney said she had considered separation from Wayne after their relationship struggles were documented in the new Disney+ series
The documentary reveals the couple can spend days out of contact following arguments, despite their busy family life
After a row during their holiday, Coleen told viewers she had sometimes wondered whether living apart might offer a solution
Hoping to spend quality time together, Coleen arranged a luxurious stay at Cameron House on Scotland’s Loch Lomond. Her parents, Tony and Colette, looked after the couple’s four sons while they travelled alone.
“Relationship-wise I’m having a hard time with Wayne, things have been up and down so we’re going to Scotland,” she explained before the trip.
But the getaway began badly when Wayne played golf before they left and then stayed for drinks with friends, leaving Coleen waiting in the car for two hours.
“He decided to play golf the day we are going so now I have to pick him up on the way,” Coleen said, clearly frustrated by the last-minute change of plan.
When Wayne eventually joined her, she confronted him over the delay. “You kept me waiting for two hours after you stayed to hang out with your mates in the clubhouse, that p***ed me off. I would have done the spa day with the girls if I’d known,” she told him.
Wayne apologised but defended his actions, saying: “I’m sorry I’m late. I told you how long I was going to be, it ran over like 20 minutes. Everyone knows when you finish a round of golf you go into the clubhouse for a beer.”
Coleen remained unimpressed, arguing that he should not have started the round if there was not enough time. “Yeah but if you don’t have time to do it, you just don’t do it that’s what I’m saying. The day’s ruined,” she replied.
The pair travelled towards Scotland in an uncomfortable silence, with the tension only beginning to ease when they stopped at McDonald’s. Wayne then tried to break the ice with one of his familiar jokes.
“You tried the spicy nuggets?” he asked Coleen. “They used to be the cage-fighting chickens those ones, that’s why they’re tough.”
Coleen later suggested that Wayne knew exactly what he was doing. “He knows he’s in the wrong and he chats s*** because he knows I find that funny but he’s talking a load of rubbish,” she said in a piece to camera.
Wayne acknowledged that his deliberately silly conversation was an attempt to get himself out of trouble. “I know what I was doing starting stupid conversations. It’s a good skill to have, I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s the dog house manual and I’m on the third book,” he said.
Yet things remained tense as Wayne adjusted to life as a stay-at-home dad after being sacked from Plymouth Argyle, while Coleen took on more work with designing her own Primark collection and filming adverts for Paddy Power.
‘I really need Wayne to help a lot more around the house, which could cause a lot of arguments,’ she admitted. ‘Wayne is a good dad but he is a bit carefree and a bit careless. It does cause a few arguments.
In the series, Coleen is seen organising school uniforms and doing the washing before helping the boys get ready for school as their eldest son Kai asks: ‘Where’s dad? Is he still in bed?’
She replied: ‘Yeah. I’m back doing the school run because Wayne is in bed. You can’t rely on Wayne so I organise everything and it is really annoying.’
During a family holiday, Coleen was left furious with Wayne: ‘You’re staying up with your mates and it’s meant to be a family holiday, you can’t keep doing what you do’
After the couple admitted they didn’t speak for four days after a row, Coleen said: ‘I’m hoping a break will help us to reconnect. That’s if I don’t kill him first’
Later in the series, the family jets off on holiday together.
But Coleen was left furious with Wayne as they chatted on the beach away from their children, saying: ‘You’re staying up with your mates and it’s meant to be a family holiday, you can’t keep doing what you do.’
The mother-of-four stormed off and later admitted to the camera: ‘There are times when I think the answer to everything is to see what it’s like if we are separated.’
In another clip, Coleen breaks down in tears as she tells a friend on a walk: ‘I’m juggling a lot and the house is not happy, I keep trying to do it and it’s just not.’
While the series gives an intimate look into the couple’s turbulent marriage there is also plenty of comic relief in the form of their four sons.
Kai, who is eligible for a professional contract at Manchester United next season after earning his first scholarship, proudly declared he’s the ‘best footballer’ in the house.
He added: ‘People are always comparing me to my dad. And you know the main thing is just having people remember the name KAI Rooney.’
Wayne – who is widely regarded as one of the best English football players in history – then conceded: ‘He’s very similar to me, it’s like watching myself with a left foot. Mad.
‘Kai plays for Manchester United Academy and he is very driven, he scores goals and he wants it.’
Discussing their children, Coleen mused: ‘Kai was our first born, he was a really sweet little boy. And then we had Klay. Klay’s just… just a happy go-lucky and doesn’t like any pressure.’
Wayne chimed in: ‘It’s got to the point now where we just want him to get through to the end of school!’
Coleen continued: ‘Kit’s got a sensitive side but at times he’s like chill and he’s not. He can just erupt and just drop a bomb in any situation. He is a live wire, strong-willed.’
As Wayne described Kit as ‘a challenge’, Coleen went on: ‘Cass is the baby of the family.
‘He is funny and you can’t help but laugh, he’s a really happy little boy, skips into school in the morning. But, I don’t know how long that’s going to last.’
As the parents were asked if they always wanted a big family, Wayne quipped: ‘I did – then the more we had, the less I wanted!’
Also in the episode, Wayne and Coleen gave fans a detailed tour of their £20million palatial Cheshire home, dubbed The Morrisons Mansion, which they built from the ground up in 2022
Wayne is seen playing football with his sons on their private pitch. Kai is eligible for a professional contract at Manchester United next season after earning his first scholarship
Ex-Manchester United and England striker Wayne broke the bank to finalise his dream family home, a rural six bedroom fortress with a private football pitch and driving range
The kitchen is dominated by a large island with a white marble countertop, with the trailer showing Coleen in the middle of the room as she popped a bottle of champagne
Yet Wayne was grateful for his family’s support as he was filmed struggling to cope with uncertainty over the future after losing his job as a football manager.
In 2024, Wayne was sacked by Plymouth Argyle after just 25 matches in charge with the club in freefall and rock bottom of the Championship.
Earlier that year he was also let go from Birmingham, after the team recorded the worst record in the Championship since he took over. They took 10 points from a possible 45, losing nine and winning just two.
With management seeming to no longer be a plan for Wayne, he was asked: ‘Was it always part of the plan?’ to which Wayne replied: ‘We spoke about her doing more work, not about me getting sacked.
‘This is the first time I’m probably not going to be involved in football – to experience things I’ve missed out on. It’ll be nice to have more time with the kids – but it can be chaos.’
As Coleen asked him if he missed Plymouth, Wayne mused: ‘I’m a realist and I think – that’s two jobs you’ve been sacked – and management in football is hard.
‘I think you know as a player when your career is going to end and you prepare for that.
‘In management you don’t know whether you’ll be there a year, two years, 10 years or three months. You never know so you’re not prepared when you lose the job.’
Coleen then told the cameras: ‘Losing the job at Plymouth is probably the hardest situation he’s ever had to be in because all he’s ever known is football. It’s been difficult.’
Yet Wayne insisted in their chat: ‘I get it I might not manage again and I get it and it’s not an issue for me.’
Throughout the series, it’s clear that Wayne’s love of football has not subsided since he retired in 2021 while playing for and managing Derby County as a player-coach.
Asked how it felt scoring a goal, Wayne recalled: ‘It’s almost like you’re playing underwater. You can hear the crowds, the noise, but you’re not focusing.
‘You can’t hear the details of everything going on when you’re playing. And then when you score a goal it’s like you’ve come up for a breath.
‘And then everything erupts, like you’re coming out of the water. You see the emotion of the crowd and you join in with them – that’s the only way I think I can explain it.
‘I get asked why don’t I just retire but I need something to look forward to.
‘I’m not doing it for money, I’m doing it for a purpose, rather than being around the house all day.’
In 2024, Wayne was sacked by Plymouth Argyle after just 25 matches in charge and spoke about his uncertainty over the future and why he refuses to retire (pictured at a match)
The pair were seen leaving their hotel in London on Wednesday amid promo for the new show
Coleen later switched to a chic grey night time look
While Wayne was showing off his slimmed-down figure in a white jumper and grey chinos
Also in the episode, Wayne and Coleen gave fans a detailed tour of their £20million palatial Cheshire home, dubbed The Morrisons Mansion, which they built from the ground up in 2022 upon 50 acres of farmland.
Coleen shared: ‘This house is everything that I have dreamed of since I was a little girl.’
As a montage of the house’s many rooms flashed up, she continued: ‘You know when you’re a child and you draw a house, everything’s symmetrical. The door in the middle and the same both sides…’
Among the home’s many amenities is a home cinema, indoor swimming pool, an underground spa, wine cellar and a football pitch for their four sons.
Yet, Wayne confessed he had no hand in planning the house because he only wanted ‘two things’.
He went on: ‘A small little room with no windows – not ’cause I’m a psycho – but if I was playing PlayStation or watching a movie, and my snooker table, I don’t really care what else.’
Wayne’s game room flashed up, showing his keyboard, cinema screen and pinball machine, while he was also seen strutting into their indoor pool room which also houses an ice bath.
As for Coleen, her priority was her wardrobe, as she explained: ‘When we built the house I said I want a really big dressing room.
‘But as you build, things change so it’s still a big dressing room but probably not as big as I wanted it to be.
‘I’ve got this and Wayne has a few wardrobes. They did say can you share and I said no!’
Coleen also showed off the home’s personal touches, including black and white portraits of the children, souvenirs from Coleen’s time in the I’m A Celeb jungle and a statue of Wayne celebrating a goal.
She then chimed in: ‘It’s a massive house but there’s a lot of rooms within the house so I do lose my kids!
‘Even though it’s mine and Wayne’s dream home everything was planned around the four kids.’
Wayne added: ‘Since we built this house I’ve been away working so it’s great now I’ve got time at home with the kids.
‘It’s still mad to me to this day where we’re living now to where we grew up. Me and Coleen, two kids from Croxteth. How are we living here?’
The couple, both 40, have allowed fans inside their family life with sons Kai, 16, Klay, 13, Kit, 10, and Cass, eight, in their new £10million fly-on-the-wall show, which was filmed last year
The new 10-part docu-series dropped on September 24 with cameras following the Rooneys around their £20million super-mansion in Cheshire.
Speaking to Our News Outlet about their filming process, Coleen explained: ‘We committed to something and we wanted to do it to the best of our ability.
‘Obviously it’s [a] reality show, so we want to show the good moments and the bad moments. It wasn’t planned, especially with kids, things can happen!
‘We didn’t want to sign up for it and, and say right, ‘we’ll film this but not film that,’ you can’t pick the moments that you like the best.
‘Because people are watching and will go like, ‘they live this life which is all good,’ but it’s not life, you have ups and downs.’
Indeed, the couple didn’t shy away from showing any of their explosive rows on camera but Wayne cheekily told Our News Outlet that the best way ‘to get out of the doghouse’ is to simply ‘learn how to listen at stay quiet at times’.
Coleen revealed that the only filming exceptions were for their children, who could decide when they didn’t want to be on camera, and during one outing in Poland when they were being mobbed by fans and figured the cameras were attracting more attention.
Disney+ and Amazon were in a bidding war for months over the rights for the show, with Disney+ winning the race with the massive £10million fee.
A synopsis for the show reads: ‘With unprecedented access, we follow the family through the highs and lows of married life, raising four lively boys, and supporting eldest son Kai as he pursues his own footballing dream.
‘Along the way come surprising personal revelations, career-defining moments, lavish celebrations and unforgettable family holidays…
‘From their Cheshire home to the beaches of Barbados and the snowy Alps, this is Britain’s most famous and private family as never seen before: warm, funny and authentic.’
Sources close to the project said Coleen will be paid £5million, with the remainder going to production company Lorton Entertainment, which made her previous show, Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story.
Stream The Real Rooneys exclusively on Disney+ from September 24
