But this morning’s Guardian tells us that Wayne Rooney is officially off the market. Don’t lose all hope, though, as William Hill are offering 5/1 odds that the blessed union will last five years or less.
Yes, it’s true. At 10:30 a.m. local time, Wayne & Colleen were married in Santa Margherita Ligure, on the Italian Riviera. The Guardian shares other fascinating details about the bridal couple with us, but I can summarize them for my time-pressed readers:
- Colleen’s gown was rumored to cost around 200,000 quid.
- The groom wore…brown…!?
- Though the newlyweds are but 22 years old, their romance is a long one. Wayne, the hopeless romantic, proposed at age 17 in the parking lot of a BP station.
- Guests were asked to make donations to a children’s hospital in lieu of gifts. Well done, Wayne & Colleen.
- The marriage ceremony was performed in Italian. I shall refrain from any snarky insinuations that maybe Wayne might use this in court at some future date, claiming that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Instead, I will admit that an Italian wedding certainly sets my heart aflutter.
- And yet those romantic images are spoiled by the knowledge that the couple have sold wedding details and pictures to OK! Magazine. This is of course de rigeur for celebrities these days…and yet…sigh…
- The reception is to be held in a gothic abbey high above Portofino.
Isn’t a 10:30 a.m. wedding a tad early? Do you think it’s because Wayne was eager to get the formalities over with so that he and his bride could rush off to a romantic, secluded hideaway in time to watch the Germany-Croatia and Poland-Austria matches?
Seriously, best wishes to Wayne & Colleen.
Tags: football, soccer, Wayne Rooney
June 12, 2008 at 6:03 pm |
I wonder if I’m on Setanta sports will be doing a special wedding edition of the show with the special one performing the wedding.
June 12, 2008 at 6:38 pm |
Well, it looks like you gleaned all of the relevant facts, Susan. I especially liked any part that made me look good in comparison. For instance, it was not at a BP station where I proposed, and I decided against my brown suit for our ceremony.
To hear your dad tell it, your own gown cost about as much as Colleen’s (maybe as a percentage of net worth). All I know is that yours was very nice. (Please resist the temptation to quiz me on its features. There are plenty of ways to expose me as a phony and a fool, so you should at least be sporting about it.)
June 13, 2008 at 11:23 pm |
What kind of man allows his wedding to take place in the summer of an even numbered year?
If I ever get married, it’ll happen in late July of an odd-numbered year, in between the British Open and the World Athletics Championships.
June 16, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
Good for you, F.! Be firm with Keira or, um…Beyonce or whoever. She’ll just have to wait for you, won’t she? (I’m so lame, I don’t really know any of the most desirable actresses. But I can’t imagine anyone not liking those two).
June 17, 2008 at 2:31 pm |
Actually, now that I think of it, maybe it’s that kind of attitude that’s responsible for me not being married…
June 19, 2008 at 6:04 am |
Way to go Wayne! Anywhere along the Mediterranean (and Iberia) is an excellent place to exchange vows. I wonder if getting married in Italy was her idea or his? My favorite section from the article:
“The 22-year-olds were childhood sweethearts and McLoughlin was said to have brushed off the England footballer’s pleas for a date for a couple of years before finally caving in.”
Persistence does pay! Gosh, I hope it would last longer than 5 years! I also like your 5th bullet point. That’s a good one!
Marriage at such a young age. The youngest I’ve ever thought about getting married is 27. Between 18 and 26 there’s just too much life to be lived. Maybe I shouldn’t have such a ball n’ chain outlook on married life, huh?
Keira Knightley and Beyoncé are two very desirable actresses, but we must not forget Megan Fox and Lacey Chabert!
June 19, 2008 at 3:41 pm |
Um,….er….who are Megan Fox and Lacey Chabert???? I know, I know, all I have to do is type their names into Google, but I have more pressing things to do.
I viewed Rooney’s engagement with my usual cynical eye, but I admit it was rather sweet that they were childhood sweethearts. Of course, not a bit of this is any of my (or anyone else’s), business. I’ve always thought that it would be truly awful to live one’s life in the public eye. He is paid very well to play football, which must be a wonderful thing. And yet it requires almost the complete loss of privacy, which to me is unbearable. It means that complete strangers like me can jump to unfounded conclusions and engage in pure speculation about his personal life. I doubt that I would tolerate that very well.
Which is all the more reason for slightly aging European & Latin American & African footballers to come to America and play in MLS!! Here they are guaranteed nearly complete obscurity. Even Beckham could have had his personal life back, had he and Posh not deliberately sought out such a high-profile, visible existence.
June 21, 2008 at 5:27 am |
I’ll help you out a little on the two ladies. Megan Fox was in the Transformers movie. Lacey was on the cast of Party of Five when she was young, but grew up sensationally! Both have had success of staying out of the limelight.
Like the many conclusions and speculation and rumors that we come up with here for our poor idolized and consistently followed movie stars? I would definitely hate being under the public microscope all the time seeing my face on shows like Access Hollywood…would drive me insane!
To be paid any amount of money to play football would be a dream for me. I played college ball with a young kid (I do mean kid, he was 16) who played on a semi-professional team in his country of Wales. He got paid somewhere around $400 – $1,000 per match. It’s not much compared to the big boys but still…
For now, those world stars can play in the MLS without being scrutinized by the public and media. For now.
June 21, 2008 at 3:39 pm |
Thanks, Adam, I feel better now. I didn’t see the Transformers and that explains why I don’t recognize Megan. Steve & The Girl used to watch Party of Five when I was teaching a night class, but that was quite a while ago. I only saw a couple of episodes–but at least I am familiar with the show. I know that they thought it was worthwhile (that must be why it wasn’t on for very long).
I know that a lot of people think that just because entertainers and athletes are well-paid that they shouldn’t mind the complete lack of privacy. I don’t agree. The truly talented actors/actresses pursue their craft as would any other artist–they don’t do it for the celebrity lifestyle. They would probably do it if they were poorly paid. This is also true for some athletes as well–they aren’t all publicity-seeking hot dogs.
Haha–the MLS guys would probably LOVE to have their private lives exposed to the world. Publicity would be the validation that they are seeking. I remember when Carlos Bocanegra was still playing for the Fire, Steve said that he should start dating Shakira (she was someone whose name just popped into his head–he knew she was a well-known singer but I would bet big $$$ he’d never recognize one of her songs). That way, Carlos would get more publicity, and by extension the MLS would as well!
July 2, 2008 at 4:18 am |
I know this is a little delayed in a response. I was watching Rachel Ray (it’s morning in KC, nothing else was on, until I discovered Wimbledon) this morning and she was saying the same thing about how most celebrities don’t get into the business to have their name smeared or to be followed around. They do it mainly because they like it. I think the show was about gossip.
The MLS players would probably like to be in the limelight a little, but may grow weary quickly of all the random things being said about them. It would put the MLS on the map here.
The only two songs that Shakira did that pop into mind are “Ojos Asi” and “Whenever, Wherever.” There was another one that was popular in America but it escapes me. Ah…Shakira, Shakira!
July 2, 2008 at 2:36 pm |
Adam,
Wimbledon is pure heaven, isn’t it? Not to brag or gloat, but thanks to Steve, I’ve been to two Wimbledons. One year The Girl and I “queued” to get into the grounds–I think it was just 3 pounds or something and we could see any match except for those on Centre Court or Court One. I always say that I can die happy, because I doubt that even Old Trafford could be better than Wimbledon. I loved tennis long before I discovered football.
I hope you enjoyed Spain’s victory over Germany. The Spaniards looked like champions all throughout the tournament, didn’t they? I would have liked to have seen more scoring in the final match, though. Germany looked completely flat, though, like it would have taken a miracle for them to even get a shot on goal in the second half.
I liked the sound of Shakira’s songs although I usually dislike “pop” music. And I think that she writes her own lyrics, which is admirable especially since English is not her first language. She’s very talented and attractive and famous enough to draw attention to any MLS guy who we could fix her up with! Since Bocanegra will be playing in France next year, we need someone who is stuck here in MLS…hmmm…who should it be?