While England were a mess on the pitch in the 2006 World Cup, their performance was nothing compared to the antics of the WAGs.
The wives and girlfriends on the international footballers stormed the tournament in Germany – with their diva behaviour off the scale.
They grabbed the headlines by dancing drunk on tables, racking up extortionate hotel bills and one was sent home early amid a drug scandal.
Big names including Victoria Beckham, Cheryl, Coleen Rooney and Abbey Clancy were in Germany as the WAGs came out to support their men in the biggest numbers ever seen.
All this happened within the classy quiet town of Baden-Baden – with some blaming the WAGs for distracting the England boys.
Things weren’t much better on the pitch, with England’s supposed Golden Generation losing on penalties to Portugal in the Quarter Finals.
The England wives and girlfriends loved going out during the 2006 World Cup
During the aftermath, the WAGs received heavy criticism and it was only ahead of Euro 2016 that then England manager Roy Hodgson allowed them back into the fold.
Current WAG Rebekah Vardy insists the women are much happier to fade into the background these days.
“The wives and girlfriends have a much lower profile now and that is how it should be. Our job is to be supportive,” she said.
“I would be mortified if I was pictured leaving a bar absolutely p***ed knowing that my husband was going to play one of the biggest games of his life the next day.”
Here is a look at what happened to the Golden Generation of WAGs from the 2006 World Cup:
Cheryl
Cheryl Cole, Coleen Rooney and Victoria Beckham in the stands ahead of the FIFA World Cup Group B match between England and Trinidad and Tobago, 2006 (Image: PA)
A relative newcomer to the football world, Cheryl was taken under Victoria Beckham’s wing during her first high-profile outing with the other WAGs.
Cheryl and Victoria were constantly at each other’s sides in Germany and appeared to be trying to outdo one another with the size of their massive sunglasses.
Then just 23-years-old, the Girls Aloud singer was engaged to left back Ashley Cole after a two-year whirlwind romance.
But things turned sour when they got back home as Cheryl discovered her fiance had been cheating on her with a hairdresser – and was surprised Victoria didn’t get in touch with her.
“David’s mum is friends with Ashley’s mum, she (Victoria) was in my hotel room the whole time during the World Cup – we’ve had barbecues together — so I was quite shocked by that,” Chez told Vogue magazine the following year.
Ashley and Cheryl did not last (Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)
Cheryl forgave Ashley and the couple got married in 2006, but their relationship ended in disaster when she caught the love rat cheating once again.
Poor Cheryl revealed she took an STI test and was left feeling “numb” after her husband’s betrayal.
This time they were over for good and they separated in 2010 before being granted a divorce just months later.
Cheryl’s love life has not really improved much since then, as she married French restauranteur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini after just three months of dating in 2014 but they would separate.
The singer then started seeing One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne and gave birth to their son, Bear, in March 2017.
They seemed the perfect couple but announced they had split in July 2018 – and now co-parent their little boy.
In between it all she’s knocked out several chart-topping singles and enjoyed two stints on X Factor.
Coleen Rooney
Coleen arrives for England’s World Cup match against Trinidad.
Cruelly labelled a ‘chavette’ back in 2006, Coleen was just 20 when she made her WAG debut with the other players’ partners at the £1,000-a-night Brenner’s Park Hotel.
She was part of the group rumoured to have racked up a £57,000 bill in an one hour of shopping, which she later dismissed as just a few ‘bits and pieces’.
Coleen was still dealing with the fallout from Wayne Rooney’s cheating ways after he confessed to sleeping with prostitutes behind his school sweetheart’s back two years before.
“Foolish as it now seems I did on occasions visit massage parlours and prostitutes,” Wayne said.
“I now regret it deeply and hope people may understand that it was the sort of mistake you make when you are young and stupid. It was at a time when I was very young and immature.”
The Liverpudlian would tie the knot with Wayne two years later in June 2008, then they welcomed their first son, Kai, in 2009.
They have had three more sons since, Klay, Kit and Cass, as the Rooney football team starts to form.
Coleen and Wayne with their kids
Coleen was embroiled in a very public clash with fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy last year amid the WAGatha Christie scandal.
She posted a series of fake stories, blocked all her followers apart from Rebekah’s account and then sprung a gotcha post online when the hoax posts made their way into the papers.
Coleen sensationally accused Rebekah of being behind stories that were leaked from her private Instagram account, something Jamie Vardy’s wife adamantly denies.
After Coleen’s post last October, Rebekah wrote: “I wish you had called me if you thought this.
“I never speak to anyone about you as various journalists who have asked me to over the years can vouch for.
“I’m not being funny but I don’t need the money, what would I gain from selling stories on you?…
“I liked you a lot Coleen & I’m so upset that you have chosen to do this.”
Coleen is preparing to head to the High Court to take on fellow WAG Rebekah, who has sued her for libel.
Victoria Beckham
Victoria was the most famous of all the WAGs
Posh Spice was Queen of the WAGs in Baden-Baden having been part of the set up for years.
It was claimed the Spice Girls singer bought a staggering 60 pairs of shades and 30 pairs of jeans.
David Beckham’s wife had fake boobs, fake hair and fake tan at the time – things she would get rid of in later years.
“I don’t wear fake tan anymore,” Victoria declared in 2013.
“Sometimes I’ve been turned orange but that’s definitely a look from my past. Being overly tanned is very aging and, dare I say it, a bit footballer’s wife.”
Becks would stand down as England captain after the tournament in 2006 before retiring for good in 2013.
Posh and Becks are world famous (Image: davidbeckham/Instagram)
A year after, Victoria got back together with the Spice Girls and went on a reunion tour.
She moved to America when David moved to LA Galaxy and gave birth to her fourth child and first girl, Harper Seven.
Then Victoria’s career went upwards as she launched her own clothing line in 2008 and became a fashion mogul with her own label.
Although she did come under fire this year for putting some of her staff on furlough despite having a millionaire husband.
Victoria then reversed her decision after the backlash.
Abbey Clancy
Abbey supports Peter Crouch at the World Cup 2006 (Image: Rex)
Model Abbey Clancy had only just started dating tall striker Peter Crouch when she headed to Germany.
Her first outing as a WAG ended in shame when she was shipped back early after pictures surfaced of her taking cocaine in the midst of the World Cup.
The shots were taken two years earlier but Peter was quick to distance himself and dumped her soon after.
She was sent back home on an early flight and accused of distracting Crouch from the actual football.
Abbey and Peter are still going strong (Image: abbeyclancyofficial/Instagram)
“Whilst I do not ordinarily comment upon matters relating to my private life, I have read with dismay various recently articles and reports about my ‘relationship’ with Abbey Clancy,” he said.
“In light of this, I wish to make the situation absolutely clear: Abbey and I were in the very early stages of a relationship which, for a number of reasons, I decided a few weeks ago to end, and I accordingly informed Abi of my decision.”
However, it didn’t take long for the pair to reunite and they got married in 2011.
Abbey completely changed her public perception as a judge on Britain’s Next Top Model and won Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.
The couple have gone from strength to strength and have four children together.
Alex Curran
Alex and Coleen watch their men at the match (Image: PA)
With her expensive-looking highlights and love of the highlife, Steven Gerrard’s missus was elevated to the levels of ‘uber-WAG’.
In Germany, the former nail technician proved to be such a baller that she ran up a £25,000 hotel bill, which apparently included 60 bottles of £75 pink champers.
The couple married just a year later at Cliveden House hotel in Buckinghamshire, and have four kids.
The couple with their three daughters (Image: Splash News)
Steven would later put the brakes on Alex attending the tournament four years later in South Africa.
The former Liverpool ace said: “In 2010 when I set off for the World Cup in South Africa I preferred for my family to be away from me and I could focus on trying to get my form right.”
They moved to America when Steven signed for LA Galaxy but returned back to the UK when he took up the Rangers managerial job.
Elen Rivas
Frank Lampard and then-girlfriend Elen Rives (Image: Richard Young / Rex Features)
One on the longest-serving WAGs at the time, Elen made a name for herself at the 2006 tournament by standing on a bar table and belting out Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
And just days earlier she reportedly threw a diva strop when she was stopped from taking six items of carry-on onto the plane.
The Spanish model, who started dating Chelsea legend Frank Lampard in 2002 and gave birth to their daughter Luna a year before Germany.
They went on to have another daughter, Isla, before splitting without warning in 2009 amid claims Elen had had enough of the cheating allegations levied against her man.
Frank and Elen have two kids together (Image: Getty Images)
“It was by mutual agreement, but break-ups are never good, especially when you have children,” she told the Daily Mail.
“We also had plans for the future: one minute we were planning another baby, the next we parted. Luckily our girls were young enough to be spared the agony of seeing their parents split up.”
And she admitted losing her sense of self when she was part of the sporting power couple.
“Going out with a footballer means you sometimes lose your own identity. It becomes all about them and no one else. But now my life is far more balanced. It is about me and my girls. And that’s how it will remain,” she added.
Frank went on to marry presenter Christine Bleakley in a lavish ceremony in 2015 and she gave birth to their first child, named Patricia after his late mum, in 2018.
Vanessa Perroncel
Vanessa Peroncell in the crowd with fans at England v Ecuador last sixteen of World Cup in 2006
Vanessa was pregnant with boyfriend Wayne Bridge’s son Jaydon at the time so did not get involved in any boozy antics.
They were one of the more smitten couples having only been together for a year, but they split in 2009.
All hell broke loose when she was accused of having a four-month affair with Wayne’s teammate John Terry, which she denied.
Wayne did not want to play alongside his former pal so quit the England squad and refused to shake Terry’s hand when they came face-to-face on the pitch.
Wayne moved on with The Saturdays singer Frankie Sandford, who he married in 2014, and they now share two sons.
Carly Cole
Carly Zucker (left) with Cheryl and Victoria at England v Portugal (Image: Daily Mirror)
Carly Zucker, now Cole, was a key member of the WAG pack back in 2006.
The model and fitness instructor headed to the Australian jungle in 2008 for an appearance on I’m A Celebrity – and was the third star to be sent home.
She married former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole in 2009 in a £10,000 wedding dress designed by Oscar de la Retta.
They have three children together, Ruby, Harrison and Max.
Melanie Slade
Melanie Slade and Theo Walcott are married
Melanie was studying for her GCSE’s during the Germany trip and was very much the baby of the group.
Unlike her glamorous counterparts, Theo Walcott’s girlfriend avoided the late night partying and was on the fringes of the main group.
She even rejected a ‘too flash’ £140,000 Ferrari Theo tried to give her for her 21st birthday.
The childhood sweethearts married in 2013 and have two children together.
And while she leads a low-key existence as a fashion writer, she did make a cameo appearance in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part One.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
