18 January 2026
Wayne Rooney has claimed he’s “deaf in my left ear”.
Photo: Getty Images
The 40-year-old former Premier League footballer has revealed the health issue that means he has to have his earpiece in a different ear for punditry jobs.
Pointing to his right ear on a Behind The Scenes episode of Match of the Day, he said: “Can I do it in this ear? I used to close the talkback. The problem is I’m deaf in my left ear.
“So when it’s too loud, I struggle to hear what Kelly Cates [MOTD presenter] or whoever is saying.”
Meanwhile, the former Man United ace recently revealed he dressed up as Freddie Mercury at his early 40th birthday bash.
The football manager danced around a vacuum while he donned sexy heels, a black leather skirt, a sleeveless skintight pink top, magenta earrings and a black wig, to mimic the late Queen frontman’s iconic look in the band’s 1984 video for I Want to Break Free.
Wayne then took to the karaoke, but the fun for his wife Coleen – who organised the luxurious weekend away with friends to a plush lakeside estate in the Cotswolds, West Oxfordshire – was short-lived as she tripped from her heels and broke her foot.
The sportsman – who turned 40 on October 24, 2025 – said on The Wayne Rooney Show podcast: “It was great, one night was fancy dress. I was Freddie Mercury. I wore high heels, a black leather skirt, a skintight t-shirt tucked in, and a hoover.
“So I was walking round with a hoover, but my feet were intact. Coleen actually slipped in her heels and broke her foot.
“It was great [weekend]. And we had different bands coming out, singing and performing and stuff. And I got up, obviously, it was good fun.
“I obviously done Bohemian Rhapsody. Me and My Monkey by Robbie Williams – that’s my go-to song.”
