If anyone ever needed a shoulder to cry on, it was Lauryn Goodman, after she realized the shocking details of her humiliating courtroom confrontation would be made public.
For months she had been confident that the colourful list of financial demands she had made of her former lover, Premier League footballer Kyle Walker, would remain legally confidential.
But when it became clear that the details of Ms Goodman’s extraordinary demands – including a seven-bedroom mansion, a gardener earning £28 an hour and a car worth up to £70,000 every three years – would be published around the world, the 33-year-old influencer knew exactly where to turn.
Lauryn Goodman’s extraordinary financial needs include a seven-bedroom mansion, a gardener earning £28 an hour and a car worth up to £70,000 every three years
Mrs. Goodman, Kyle Walker’s former mistress, is the mother of two of his children
Rebekah Vardy, a fellow WAG, suffered an embarrassing defeat at the High Court two years ago when she sued Coleen Rooney for libel
Then there’s Rebekah Vardy, the WAG who suffered an even bigger defeat at the High Court two years ago when she sued Coleen Rooney for libel.
The so-called ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial gripped the nation and turned Mrs Vardy into a laughing stock.
Now the Mail can reveal that Ms Vardy and Ms Goodman – Walker’s former mistress and mother of two of his children – have become so close that Ms Vardy is reportedly advising her on how to write social media posts following the affair.
The women are also in daily contact, and Ms Vardy, a mother of five, is supportive of Ms Goodman, who is raising two young children as a single mother. (Ms Vardy was a single mother herself before meeting Leicester City and England striker Jamie in 2014.)
She also introduced Ms. Goodman to her publicist, who is known to have good connections in the tabloids.
A friend of Ms. Goodman tells me, “Behind the scenes, there’s a fascinating friendship. Lauryn and Becky have so much in common.
“Becky has advised Lauryn, introduced her to people she’s worked with, mentored her on what to post online and how to behave in public. Becky has also supported her as she’s raised her children alone. She knows exactly what that’s like.
‘Lauryn was of course happy with the advice and there weren’t many people supporting her, so it was appreciated.’
Last weekend, Ms Vardy posted a message of support on Ms Goodman’s Instagram account, writing: ‘Keep fighting, because I know you always will. The truth will prevail.’
The full list of demands Goodman made of Walker (34) was made public late last month after restrictions on reporting were lifted following a court application by newspapers including the Mail.
She wanted Walker to pay maintenance equivalent to an annual salary of £350,000 and £31,000 for an Astro Turf lawn, as she was convinced that her one-year-old daughter, who cannot yet walk, would one day become a ‘Lioness’, a star of the England women’s football team.
She asked for a £70,000 Mercedes and another £30,000 car for her nanny, even though the nanny couldn’t drive.
The so-called ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial gripped the nation and turned Ms Vardy, pictured, into a laughing stock
Mrs Goodman argued that she needed £500 a month to maintain a hot tub that was exclusively for the children, a further £500 a month for a gardener and £1,440 a month for a cleaner.
People close to Goodman fear it will take some time for her to recover from the humiliation inflicted on her by judge Edward Hess. She described Walker, who earns £160,000 a week at Manchester City, as an “open chequebook” since the birth of his two children, Kairo, four, and Kinara, one.
Friends say she has been quieter and less in need of attention since the case – and is “very, very down”.
One of them said: ‘Lauryn has always been very direct, very sure of herself, but this is a huge blow to her. She was very concerned about the devastating public reaction. It all feels very unfair to her.’
Ms Vardy had a similar experience after her own trial, where the judge described her as an “unreliable witness”.
After the nine-day hearing, she was ordered to pay more than £2 million in legal costs, including £1.5 million towards Mrs Rooney’s costs.
The scandal began when Ms Rooney accused Ms Vardy of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper in October 2019.
Footballer Kyle Walker with his wife, Annie Kilner. Walker earns £160,000 a week playing for Manchester City
Ms Vardy was a single mother herself before meeting Leicester City and England striker Jamie in 2014
Rebekah Vardy, left, with Annie Kilner, wife of Kyle Walker, during the 2018 World Cup
Ms Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United and England striker Wayne, revealed on social media that the Instagram account that leaked her private Instagram posts was ‘Rebekah Vardy’s account’ after she called in a detective to catch her.
The following year, Ms Vardy brought a libel action against Ms Rooney, with the case coming to court in London in May 2022. Two months later, the judge dismissed the claim on the grounds that Ms Rooney’s statements were largely true.
Ms Vardy said she was “devastated and shocked” by the outcome.
She has since appeared in a documentary about the case, in which she spoke about her difficult upbringing with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She has otherwise largely stayed out of the spotlight.
Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United and England striker Wayne, went on an investigation to catch Rebekah Vardy
According to people closely following the situation, while Ms Vardy is friends with Ms Goodman, her former antagonist Ms Rooney has been supportive of Kyle Walker’s wife Annie Kilner since the shock news broke last December that Walker had fathered a second child with Lauryn.
The Walkers have also engaged the legal and PR teams that helped Ms Rooney win her battle with Ms Vardy, including lawyer Paul Lunt of Brabners in Liverpool and public relations expert Rachel Monk.
Mrs Goodman has since hired Rebekah’s PR man, Ian Edmondson, a former news editor at The News of the World who left the paper over the phone-hacking scandal.
Ms Goodman is also friends with Caroline Watt, Ms Vardy’s former agent, whose phone – and the various messages on it – disappeared from a boat in the North Sea.
There are even more similarities, as both women have extravagant taste.
Lauryn lives in a spacious house with a hydropool jacuzzi, while Mrs Vardy and her husband Jamie live in a sprawling £3million farmhouse in Lincolnshire, which has a bar, gym, football pitch and a special rainbow play park with a slide, swings and climbing frame.
Lauryn drives a luxury Mercedes, while Rebekah has a customized Range Rover.
As one of Lauryn’s friends put it, “At least they have enough to talk about.”
