Wayne Rooney has revealed that he is Jewish in a new documentary about his family.
The former England and Manchester United striker made the revelation in the fourth episode of The Real Rooneys, a new 10-part Disney+ series.
Rooney told the cameras that he recently discovered that his maternal grandmother and her family were Polish Jews.
“I’ve recently found out that my mum’s mum, so my nan’s, family were Polish Jews,” he said.
A producer then pointed out that, under halacha, this could mean Rooney is Jewish if the maternal lineage is established.
“Technically, if that’s true, you’re actually Jewish,” the producer told him.
Rooney, who was raised Catholic, responded: “I’m Catholic. But then I’ve always asked questions like, why aren’t we Jewish?”
Asked whether he would want to investigate his newly discovered ancestry further, and whether the story could even become the subject of a spin-off, Rooney joked: “Roo the Jew?”
The revelation came during a family trip to Poland with his wife, Coleen, and their two youngest sons, Kit, 10, and Cass, 8, which the children had requested after learning about the Second World War at school.
Coleen explained in the programme that the visit was the family’s idea rather than something arranged for television, adding that Kit “really wanted to go”.
Wayne also told the programme that the trip was “part of his education”, adding that it was important for children to learn about history.
The family travelled to Krakow, Poland, before visiting Auschwitz, where they were filmed looking at the cattle carriages used by the Nazis to transport people to the death camps.
Coleen said Wayne has always shared their son’s interest in history, describing him as having “a real bug for learning about different places in the world, culture, people, values”.
The trip had particular resonance for Rooney, who had already visited Auschwitz in 2012 while representing England at the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
Rooney was among a group of England players who travelled to the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp after hearing from Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper. The players were shown the piles of victims’ possessions, including shoes and children’s clothing.
Speaking after that visit, Rooney said: “I’m a parent, and it’s tough to see what happened there. You’ve seen the number of children who died. You see the children’s clothes and shoes; it’s really sad. You have to see it firsthand.”
More than a decade later, he returned with his own children, telling the new documentary that visiting Auschwitz with them was an opportunity to help them understand what happened.
“It’s really important to learn about history, good and bad,” Rooney said. “Sometimes with your kids, you only want to tell them good stuff, and I don’t think that’s good for them.”
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