DEVASTATED Becky Vardy was last night facing a massive financial hit after her libel defeat left her with a £3million legal bill.
Negotiations are expected to take place behind closed doors with lawyers from both camps in a bid to agree a settlement before September.
Rebekah Vardy has been left on the brink of financial ruin and with reputational damage[/caption]
The judge ruled in favour of Coleen Rooney after she reviewed the evidence in the case[/caption]
But legal experts said it was highly likely that Becky would be forced to cough up a big chunk of Coleen Rooney’s £1.5million legal costs.
She will also have to pay her own — which are said to be in the same region.
Jack Ridgway, of the Association of Costs Lawyers, said: “The judge won’t necessarily order Mrs Vardy to cover all of it.
“It is, in fact, rare for a winning party to recover all of their legal costs. As a generalisation, winning parties recover about 70 per cent.
READ MORE WAGATHA CHRISTIE
“Given the money at stake, this is unlikely to be a quick process, even if an agreement can be reached before having to argue the bill in court.”
But Becky will also be counting the cost to her reputation, which was last night in tatters.
Media lawyer Jonathan Coad described the result as an “absolute disaster” for her and said it was “as damaging as it could be”.
Her hopes of a TV career — after stints on I’m A Celebrity and Dancing On Ice — are hanging by the thinnest of threads.
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Mr Coad said: “It couldn’t really be worse.
“But of course, it is made worse by the fact that she was a volunteer to this and she was the claimant, so she was bringing it.
“It’s turned out to be about as damaging as it could be because the judge also found that her evidence was unreliable, which is a judicial euphemism for ‘it’s not true’.”
Another lawyer said Becky would “rue the day that she ever brought this case”.
Mark Stephens said she would be “forever branded a fishwife and gossip — as she has been by the judge”.
He said: “She’d be wise to take a quiet life on a remote island somewhere because whenever she appears in the media, she is always going to be branded ‘gossip Rebekah Vardy’, ‘betrayer of confidences Rebekah Vardy’.
“Those kinds of epithets are going to live with her for some considerable time”.
Becky turned down three offers to settle out of court before the battle finally got under way at London’s High Court.
Mum-of-four Coleen said she repeatedly tried to extend “an olive branch” to Becky but her efforts were “all in vain”.
Coleen’s final offer to settle would have seen the pair make “a substantial donation” to charity.
‘AGREE TO DISAGREE’
They would also have committed to paying their own costs and would “agree to disagree” on the central claims made by Coleen in her Wagatha Christie post.
Their battle is now expected to be played out on TV as Channel 4 has already commissioned a two-part drama-documentary.
Coleen has signed up with streaming giant Netflix for a documentary about the case while the BBC has commissioned a rival programme featuring Rebekah’s view of the spat.
As for Coleen, her stock is set to rise, with lucrative brand deals expected to boost her £15million net worth by £5million.
She could also make another £1million by selling her story.
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But popular culture expert Nick Ede said she would likely shun the limelight.
He added: “Coleen is a winner in everyone’s eyes. Knowing her, she will want to get on with her life and perhaps not use her newly refreshed fame for monetary gain or TV stardom.”
The warring WAGs both gave evidence at the High Court in May[/caption]
Rebekah Vardy will be ‘rueing the day’ she decided to bring the matter to court[/caption]
Coleen Rooney is expected to cash in on the case and has a deal with Netflix[/caption]
