Frozen forgiveness and the Wagatha question: Why is it so hard to let go?

Drawing on the very public fallout between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney, Jemimah Wright asks why grudges are so hard to release, and what they do to our hearts while we hold them.

The “Wagatha Christie” saga began on 9 October 2019 when Coleen Rooney posted her viral Instagram statement accusing Rebekah Vardy of leaking her private stories to the press. The libel case went to the High Court in London in May 2022, and on 29 July 2022 the judge ruled largely in Rooney’s favour, finding Vardy had likely leaked information.

Recently Rebekah Vardy declared that “hell will freeze over” before she apologises to Coleen Rooney. It made me think of the old saying that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Rebekah is doing herself a diservice by not forgiving, however difficult it must me, as the trouble is, while we’re waiting for justice, closure, or that longed-for apology, the bitterness quietly settles into us.