When someone appears on television and you think to yourself, “That person looks different”, you get a certain kind of surprise. Not drastically changed, not surgically altered, but noticeably healthier, as if they’ve been getting enough sleep and reducing the things they probably shouldn’t have been doing in the first place. When Wayne Rooney appeared on the BBC’s World Cup coverage recently at the age of 40 and, by most accounts, looked genuinely well, many people reacted in that way.
Social media carried out its usual functions. The remarks arrived swiftly. “Has Rooney lost weight, or is it just me? One viewer commented, “Good on ya fella”. Others concurred. “Rooney appears to be in good health and has lost a significant amount of weight. Fantastic to see. Warmth was evident in those answers, indicating that people were relieved rather than merely observing a physical change.
| Full Name | Wayne Mark Rooney |
| Date of Birth | 24 October 1985 |
| Age | 40 |
| Nationality | English |
| Profession | Former Professional Footballer, Football Manager |
| Playing Career | Everton, Manchester United, DC United, Derby County |
| International Goals | 53 (former England record; now surpassed by Harry Kane) |
| Manchester United Goals | 253 in 559 appearances (club record) |
| Married To | Coleen Rooney (married 2008) |
| Children | Four sons |
| Current Role | Football manager / pundit |
It’s possible that context sharpened the attention a little. For the broadcast, Rooney was seated next to Olivier Giroud, a man who has long been praised as one of the more conventionally attractive football players in history. “He’s lost a bit of weight, had a trim… and then the BBC makes him sit next to Olivier Giroud” is a joke that went viral online. Beneath the humor, however, there was a real perception that Rooney looked better than he had in some recent public appearances, and people took notice.
For the majority of his adult life, Wayne Rooney’s weight has been a source of concern. Unusually for a professional athlete, he has always discussed it candidly. He disarmingly admitted in his 2012 autobiography that he gains weight quickly, adding two or three pounds in just one week without exercise. He explicitly contrasted his “stocky” physique with that of someone like Ryan Giggs, who is known for having a lean, angular build. He wrote, “I know I can shift it in a week or two”, which was probably a practical way to avoid worrying too much about it in between seasons.
Because what “shifting it” actually entailed was depicted in a more colorful light in the stories that later surfaced. Rooney talked extensively about his pre-season rituals on a podcast with Gary Neville’s The Overlap, and they were not those of a man who had adopted a clean lifestyle. He stated that he would resume training while six or seven pounds overweight.
He would sit in a steam room for ninety minutes the night before the weigh-in, fully clothed, without eating or drinking anything, just trying to sweat off enough to pass inspection. The fitness standard that every squad fears was the bleep test. Being pragmatic by nature, Rooney came up with a solution: drop out early to lower his baseline score and give himself room to improve the next time. He smiled and said, “I was out as soon as the keepers came out”.
Even now, it’s difficult not to find that amusing. The notion that one of the most physically active football players of his generation was surreptitiously breaking every pre-season regulation he could find, however, is another aspect of the disconnect between public perception and private reality. Those tales are set in his twenties. Individuals evolve. Bodies undergo change. The stakes feel different at forty.
Concerns about Rooney’s appearance had recently originated in a different way. When fans saw him at Old Trafford looking worn out, the response on social media was more concerned than joyful. One person commented, “He needs to take care of himself”. Even with the best of intentions, that kind of public concern can become a narrative. It appeared to accompany him through a challenging period that included managing Plymouth Argyle for a while, spending a lot of time apart from his family, and the unique loneliness of managing professional football in the lower leagues.
For this reason, people found significance in the World Cup broadcast appearance. He appeared more youthful after getting trimmed, and the weight that had accumulated over those difficult months appeared to be either gone or at least lessened. After returning from a vacation in Spain, he and Coleen had just celebrated their eighteenth wedding anniversary. He wrote, “Where’s them 18 years gone”? There’s a feeling that a person’s health can benefit from stable ground, family time, and the lack of intense professional pressure in ways that no pre-season regimen can fully address.
It’s still unclear if Rooney has taken a particular approach to fitness or has just had a successful run of months. The man who used to spend the night before weigh-in sitting in a steam room fully clothed appears to be receiving some of the best reviews of his post-playing life at the age of forty. And that probably feels better than he’s admitting, considering how long those old tales have stuck to him.
i) https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/39446256/wayne-rooney-bbc-weight-loss-england-world-cup/
ii) https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/wayne-rooney-man-utd-preseason-34195313
iii) https://m.allfootballapp.com/news/EPL/WC-fans-hail-Rooneys-TV-glow-up-as-they-say-hes-lost-loads-of-weight-after-getting-rid-of-beard/4654429
iv) https://www.gbnews.com/sport/football/wayne-rooney-new-look-bbc-world-cup
v) https://frucifit.com/anti-ageing-lessons-wayne-rooney/