Wayne Rooney names two Christmas dinner staples he hates and reveals controversial item on his plate, while Paul Scholes is called ‘dirty b*****d’ for his BIZARRE festive tradition
Wayne Rooney has sparked hilarity when describing his ideal Christmas dinner… with Dion Dublin among those taking issue with his left-field choices.
Rooney and host Kelly Somers were joined on BBC’s The Wayne Rooney Show by player turned presenter Dublin and manager Sam Allardyce, and when discussing how footballers spent their Christmas, discussion soon turned to what they would be eating.
Asked by host Somers to detail what would be on his plate, former Manchester United and England star Rooney said: ‘There’s mushy peas, there’s sweetcorn. There’s carrot and turnip, turkey. I have new potatoes, I don’t like roast potatoes. And broccoli and cauliflower.’
Somers said that mushy peas with a roast was a ‘red flag’ while Homes Under The Hammer maestro Dublin took issue with that and one other element, incredulously telling Rooney: ‘Those first two are weird, man. Mushy peas, and corn… that is terrible Wazza.’
And when Somers asks whether it is right that he doesn’t have any gravy on the side, Rooney said: ‘Not really. It’s just messy.’
When it is suggested that his food must be too dry he responded with a smile, to much laughter around the table: ‘No, I use the juices off the vegetables!’
Wayne Rooney’s choices sparked amusement among Kelly Somers and Dion Dublin
Rooney played under Sam Allardyce at Everton when returning from Manchester United in 2017
Pressed to explain himself, the former Manchester United man added: ‘To be honest, I’m not a big fan of roasts. If we ever go out for a Sunday roast, I’ll get gammon and eggs and chips. I’m not really a big fan of a Sunday roast but at Christmas I’ll have it – but I want it my way.’
Rooney was not the only former United star turning heads over his culinary choices. Paul Scholes has been labelled a ‘dirty b*****d’ by a disgusted Nicky Butt over his Christmas dinner picks.
Scholes said he likes to put KETCHUP over his brussels sprouts – a move that left both Paddy McGuinnes and his former Old Trafford team-mate stunned.
Scholes said: ‘I love sprouts. I like sprouts with ketchup. Ketchup and gravy. We used to go to my nannas house when I was a kid. You know obviously the juice? She used to tip that into a cup and drink that as well. The sprout juice. It was like cabbage water.’
Paddy wasn’t having any of it and said: ‘That’s a bit weird. In fact if you were at my house on Christmas Day and you started putting ketchup on your Christmas dinner I would f*** you straight off!’
Butt added on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast: ‘Weird. Sprouts are f***ing disgusting. Dirty b*****d.’
Rooney, meanwhile, was wearing a Christmas jumper featuring an image of former United team-mate Roy Keane, poking fun at his uncompromising punditry with the words: ‘Praising Santa for delivering presents? That’s his job!’
Paul Scholes controversially revealed he likes to have brussels sprouts with ketchup
Earlier, Rooney had mentioned that Allardyce was one of his two bosses – along with United’s Louis van Gaal – to give him Christmas Day off as a player.
And Allardyce, who was boss at Goodison Park during Rooney’s second spell at Everton, admitted he couldn’t stand being in on the big day when he was a player himself.
‘I hated coming in and training on Christmas Day,’ said Allardyce. ‘Managers then used to be so strict in my time, and so we were always in on Christmas Day. We’d get up in the morning and the kids are opening the presents. But then you come in, you run around for 45 minutes, and then go home.
‘And then, of course, you can’t celebrate Christmas that much. You can have a glass of wine or two, and Christmas dinner is very important.
‘I thought it was a complete and utter waste of time. The only thing I just say to players is “if you’re professionals and we can’t trust you, there’s a big problem”.’
