Wayne Rooney was once again forced to reveal his surprising bedtime habits during the BBC’s World Cup match against Mexico. Rooney was among the pundits’ line-up for the last-16 clash, and talk quickly turned to how Thomas Tuchel’s side would cope with the late kick-off.
The match was due to kick off at 6pm local time (1am UK), but due to the threat of nearby lightning, the stadium went into thunderstorm protocol less than an hour in advance, causing the match to be delayed and start at 7pm (2am UK). And while Rooney and the BBC trio of Kerry Cates, Micah Richards and Joe Hart were trying to entertain the nation, it wasn’t long before news broke that the former Everton and Manchester United forward was sleeping with his hair dryer on.
At the start of the match, Match of the Day presenter Cates said: “This goes back to Frank Lampard, but physiology is not like that. He used to rub his feet to try to get him to sleep and that caused a lot of controversy.”
To which Rooney replied: “To be fair, I think I woke Harty (Joe Hart) up a few times with the hair dryer.”
Cates continued: “Look, you both said you had experience keeping people up until the wee hours of the morning,” Richards said, “What’s that story about the hair dryer?”
Rooney then said: “It’s been going on forever,” to which former Manchester City player Richards responded: “Well, we’ve got another hour.”
Rooney was then forced to reveal his bizarre habits, saying: “When I sleep alone in a hotel, I sleep with my hair dryer on.When I was playing for England, Harty was always in the room next to me and he could hear the hair dryer, so he knew when I was asleep.”
Former England goalkeeper Hart was caught off guard by the story, saying: “I didn’t know him very well. I thought he was hoovering.”
Rooney revealed in 2024 why he chose to sleep that way, saying:
“I keep it cold. When the kids live, I sleep with the hair dryer on, but it’s right next to the bed and I have the hair dryer on my head. I also have two fans next to the bed.”
Last year, his wife Coleen revealed that the former England international once caused a fire hazard in their home when he exploded his hairdryer while trying to sleep.
“If I’m in bed, it’s the fan, otherwise it’s the hair dryer. If I wake up and he’s still in bed, I hear the sound of the hair dryer being applied. Has he ever told me it’s on fire? The hair dryer is on a cold setting, but one time, because he was cold, I turned it on high and it exploded!”
