Rebekah and Jamie Vardy (foto: Uradni FB/TW/IG profil igralca)
Jamie Vardy credits Rebekah for transforming his career and personal life, as he reflects on his rise, struggles, and family tensions in a new Netflix documentary.
Jamie Vardy has opened up about his relationship with Rebekah Vardy and the role she played in shaping his career, in the new Netflix documentary Untold: Jamie Vardy.
The former England striker reflects on a journey few believed possible, rising from non-league football to winning the Premier League title with Leicester City, who started the season as 5,000-1 outsiders.
Vardy admits his career might have taken a different path without Rebekah, who helped him change his lifestyle at a crucial moment.
"She was good-looking and had an aura about her. I thought, ‘That’s the one’," Vardy says, recalling their first meeting.
At the time, he still lived with his parents and worked in a factory making medical equipment, earning £120 a week while playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels after being released by Sheffield Wednesday.
His early years included heavy partying with friends, which led to trouble. A fight during a night out resulted in an assault charge, an ankle tag, and a strict curfew.
"The mindset was simple: don’t do it again," Vardy explains.
His football path moved forward through Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town, before a £1 million move to Leicester City, a record fee for a non-league player at the time.
He met Rebekah shortly after the transfer, during a difficult period on the pitch when he struggled for form and confidence.
She recalls her first impression of him in a nightclub: "He walked in completely drunk, friends holding him up. I thought, ‘What is this?’"
Despite a chaotic first meeting, Vardy kept pursuing her. She eventually agreed to meet him and discovered a different side.
"Behind all that, there was someone kind, someone who listened," she says.
The turning point came when Rebekah confronted him about his behavior during a critical moment in his career.
"You’re going to ruin everything you’ve worked for if you don’t change," she told him.
Vardy accepted the message.
"She was right. I needed to hear it. She pushed me in the right direction," he says.
Teammates noticed the difference. Former captain Wes Morgan described Vardy before and after the relationship as "two different people."
The change translated onto the pitch. Vardy helped Leicester City secure promotion, avoid relegation, and then achieve one of football’s greatest stories by winning the Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri.
He scored in 11 consecutive matches, setting a league record, and later added an FA Cup triumph.
"No one can take it away. It happened. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did," Vardy says.
Now playing for US Cremonese in Serie A, Vardy also reveals personal struggles off the pitch.
He confirms he no longer speaks to his parents after a dispute over the identity of his biological father, which became public through the media.
"I should have been told. I’ve made my decision. I’m focused on my wife and children," he says.
The story of Jamie Vardy continues beyond football, with another documentary, The Vardys on ITV, set to explore the couple’s life in Italy and revisit the high-profile dispute with Coleen Rooney.
For Vardy, the message remains simple.
"I’m not normal. It’s good to be different."