'I can see Coleen Rooney's Wayne is a thoroughly decent man after his extraordinary act'

Wayne Rooney, whose wife Coleen Rooney is on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV, developed a bad-boy image because of his drunken antics when he was a footballer

Wayne Rooney helped a devastated young woman retrieve her stolen phone in an extraordinary act, she claims today.

And Katie Hind says this showed what a "thoroughly decent man" the football legend is, despite him developing a bad-boy image in his playing days for drunken antics.

Katie said she is unsurprised "most of the nation" can see what a great man the former England striker is. The woman believes Coleen has helped portray Wayne, 39, in a positive light during her time on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV.

Recalling her personal experience with Wayne in 2010, when the footballer was a Manchester United forward, Katie said: "Clearly star-struck by Wayne, then just 24, I had momentarily taken my eyes off of my beloved Blackberry and it had been swiped from under my nose... Then a miracle happened: Wayne spotted two women hovering around our table and summoned them over. He insisted one of them open her handbag, which she did and, seconds later, he hauled my phone out and handed it back to me.

"Elated, I hugged Wayne. He was furious on my behalf and insisted the women were thrown out of the luxury hotel. As we left, I thanked him profusely and vowed never to write a bad word about him. Given some of his behaviour over the ensuing years, it is a promise I have had to break."

Katie, a journalist, has indeed covered Wayne's misdemeanours since, including his arrest in 2017 for driving an estate agent's car while allegedly over the drink-driving limit. Coleen was pregnant with Cass at the time.

But Katie said Wayne's message on social media last week, praising his wife and encouraging his followers to vote for her to do a Bushtucker trial, shows what a decent man he is. Indeed, 38-year-old Coleen has since been picked to do a trial in the jungle. Surprised by his influence over the public vote, Wayne joked on X: "Think I could be in trouble here. Good luck!"

Wayne, now boss at Championship side Plymouth Argyle, also appeared on the jungle’s spin-off show, I’m A Celebrity...Unpacked, telling host Joel Dommett: "I’d love to see Coleen do a trial, I think she’d be great, really good at them as well.

"I think she’s showing her kind and caring personality and her character, that’s coming across strong. It’s great to see her in there and settling in over the past few days."

Coleen’s Bushtucker trial saw the mum locked in the back of a van with hordes of cockroaches, rats, giant mealworms and crickets. She was unflappable, successfully winning nine stars for camp alongside Dean, reports Daily Mail.