‘We all thought Coleen was a doormat – but she’s definitely my jungle queen’

A CELEBRITY appearing on a reality TV program always comes with a risk. A calculated one, of course. In other words, using a calculator to determine whether the money they’re being offered is worthwhile, potentially putting them in danger of losing their jobs or making them laugh for the rest of their days, or getting their jobs canceled, or both.

Regardless of who performs technically well on whatever show, there are hardly any winners here. There is a politician no one will ever see again without recognizing him as a cat, and not in a good way, for every famous person who comes out with a few shattered shreds of dignity.

At best, they keep a low profile, don’t offend anyone, and get slated for being boring. At worst, they reveal themselves to be complete monsters, mugging for cameras, arguing with everyone, and in possession of not one iota of self-awareness.

We hardly ever mention the third outcome because it is so uncommon. The reality TV unicorns. A famous person who everyone has a point of view on, which is in the middle of the negative spectrum, and who, naturally, understated, quietly turns things around without trying to be too hard, emerges as a newly admired, admired, and celebrated figure. Coleen Rooney must be working on her horn right now.

Coleen has been defined for the past 20 years by her outrageous, extremely public antics since she was 16 despite her first paparazzi photos being literally in school uniform. Kind souls might have described her a long-suffering.

Most of us thought she was a doormat. A third odd segment of the public assumed Wayne had only been with him for a while, believing that if they divorced, they would leave with nothing but that they would be entitled to probably half of what he’s earned raising their four children. It would be more understandable to tolerate his behavior than what Coleen was doing to continue living in luxury. And that’s staying with her husband, despite multiple stomach-churning indiscretions, for mystery reasons best known to herself.

Watching her on I’m A Celebrity, everything started to make more sense. The human behind the headlines was a massively underestimated, down to earth, resilient woman.

She was fiercely protective of her family, which was very evident to her and was of course very important to her. Suddenly her actions, which had seemed weak and pathetic viewed from the outside, changed shape.

When the going gets really, truly tough, maybe it takes much more strength to stay, and fight for what matters most to you. Over the past 20 years, Coleen has received just as much criticism as Wayne for her blatant inaction.

Thinking about how difficult that must have been to bear, plus the suffering and disappointment of being betrayed by her childhood sweetheart, the father of her children, and every other person she encounters with knowing the incomprehensible details almost makes you shiver. And yet she’s not only still standing, she’s smiling.

Coleen Rooney, you are quite something. She definitely won, despite the fact that she may not have received the most votes for I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Source: Mirror