Scousers Wayne and Coleen Rooney react to son Kai, 16, having 'weird' accent
Despite being heavily in the public eye for the past few decades, Coleen and Wayne Rooney have always maintained a level of privacy.
But now they’re opening the doors of their Cheshire mansion and giving us a closer look at family life with the release of The Real Rooneys on Disney+.
So that includes the chaos of living with their four boys, Kai, 16, Klay, 13, Kit, 10, and Cass, eight. But despite having iconically Scouse parents who grew up in Croxteth, Liverpool, the Rooney lads don’t quite have the same distinct accents.
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Videos of the Man United youth striker Kai speaking often go viral online and even Wayne acknowledges some people find it ‘weird’ as Coleen tells LADbible: “I do think that with all our kids, they’ve not got like, an accent.”
In The Real Rooneys, the England legend notes how similar his eldest son is to him, as he watches him play on the football pitch in their back garden.
Wayne says it’s just like watching himself but ‘left-footed’ as Kai bangs the ball into the goal consistently.
But despite the similarities in both looks and skill, it certainly stops at the accent - the teen barely has a hint of the two Scouse icons' twang as a kid that’s largely grown up in Cheshire under the public eye. And of course, it's not the most unusual thing for kids to stray from their parents' accents, but he sounds starkly different.
“Kai’s at that age now where, 16-year-olds… it’s a big influence from the music and … I’ve been told it’s bit of a weird accent actually,” Wayne admits to LADbible as Coleen says it's ‘not on the show’.
The I’m A Celeb icon continues: “It's funny because when they were growing up- all our family, when we were in Liverpool or they were around us, they'd say ‘oh the kids speak so posh’.
“But when they went to school they were common, so I think they had that like crossover because we and our family are really Scouse.”
Coleen adds: “They had that ‘oh they speak so lovely’ but then in school - obviously the Cheshire lot, they have that little, you know, posh accent - to them they had that little twang where they wasn't that posh.”
Notably, Kai isn’t far off his dad’s age when he made his senior debut for Everton over two decades ago and was soon rocketed into the public eye.
But it’s been different for the kids growing up, as they’ve had that attention since the ‘day there were born’.
Reflecting on this, Coleen says: “You know, when we look back now we see our boys - like Kai's 16. nearly 17 - we were young and I don't think you realise that until years later.
“But I think we handled it as well as we could and with the kids, obviously we’re in the spotlight so they've been brought into it. They handle it well because it’s something they’ve grown up with.”
Wayne adds: “I think from our point of view, obviously been through it, we can obviously give them advice and help them learn from our mistakes if you like. I think the kids, they’re strong minded as well.
“Especially Kai who’s at that age now where he’s obviously gone full-time into football as well. He's got his own mind, he's his own person, he knows what he wants and then we're obviously there when he needs us to help and guide him.”
The Real Rooneys give us a real insight into the kids' personalities, as we see Wayne doing the school run and stepping into a career in TV while Coleen takes on work with the likes of Primark and Applied Nutrition.
But more than anything, Coleen reckons it gives people a chance to see that while they might be heavily in the public eye, they do ‘normal things’ and are relatable to people.
“If we’re going to commit to something, both of us, in our lives, we do it properly,” she says.
“And we didn't want to hold back on anything and that was the emotions we were going through at the time. There was days when the cameras were there, Wayne didn't want to get out of bed - it's just life and I think that's what people want to see because they can relate to that.”
Episodes 1-8 of The Real Rooneys are now streaming on Disney Plus with episodes 9-10 dropping 1 October.
Topics: Wayne Rooney, Coleen Rooney, Entertainment, Disney Plus
Jess Battison