From ‘Roo the Jew?’: Ex-British soccer star Wayne Rooney reveals Jewish ancestry
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Former star striker Wayne Rooney stands on the pitch before the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, November 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Former British soccer striker Wayne Rooney reveals that he is Jewish in a new documentary series on Disney+.
The former Manchester United star tells the camera in the fourth episode of “The Real Rooneys,” a series about his family, that his maternal grandmother was Jewish and that her family came from Poland.
“Technically, if that’s true, you’re actually Jewish,” a producer notes.
“I’m Catholic. But then I’ve always asked questions like, why aren’t we Jewish?” he responds.
Joking about a spin-off in which he would investigate his ancestry, Rooney quips: “Roo the Jew?”
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