Mr Tumble, Calzaghe, Big Dunc - what we've learned about Rooney

Who knew Wayne Rooney cannot bear Mr Tumble or tried to fight former world boxing champion Joe Calzaghe?

Elite footballers are often a closed book these days but one of England and Manchester United's greatest players has given a special insight into his life in 2025 through 'The Wayne Rooney Show'.

The BBC Sport podcast has brought intrigue, laughter and insight to its audience since it began in August.

As we reach the halfway point in the season, we take a look back at eight of the best moments the show has served up so far.

It's not every day you hear that a footballing hero hates Mr Tumble!

But after raising four children, Rooney has had enough of watching the child entertainer on television.

Rooney had the podcast panel in fits of laughter when he said: "I hate Mr Tumble. I was in the dressing room for Match of the Day and he was next to me.

"The reason I hate him - well, I don't hate him for what he does, it's just that I've had to sit through it four times with every kid.

"It's got to the point now where I just can't. He's the reason I've got the snip. I couldn't have another kid to go through it again."

Rooney's love of boxing has never been a secret.

He even went viral in 2015 for sparring with friend and former Manchester United team-mate Phil Bardsley in his kitchen.

But Rooney revealed he has also targeted someone who would put up more of a fight than Bardsley - former world champion Joe Calzaghe, at his agent's wedding no less.

Rooney's agent Paul Stretford explained the story: "Joe came to the wedding, and Wayne's there of course. And we've had a few drinks and he offers Joe Calzaghe out. I'm stood there talking to them both and he goes, 'Alright Joe', 'Alright Wayne?' 'I could have you'.

"I'm looking and I'm thinking, 'You're joking me'. He's going, 'No, just calm down... I just want to do a bit of shadow boxing with him'. So we go onto the green outside in the middle of my wedding.

"Joe's going, 'Don't worry, it's nothing'. Joe's just sort of stood there but [Rooney's gone] into the ribs."

Remembering the moment, Rooney joked: "I saw him, he looked a bit vulnerable, he'd had a few drinks. I thought I might give him his first defeat."

Coming from a family of Evertonians and being a Manchester United great, could Rooney possibly have any less affection for Liverpool?

However his wife Coleen is a huge Red and she put Liverpool flags around their house after their 2019-20 Premier League title win.

"When Liverpool won the Premier League a few years ago I came home, I was at Derby at the time, and Coleen had Liverpool flags up outside the house," said Rooney.

"It was our old house, so outside the front door there's a little balcony thing and the flag was outside the window, so I told her to go and get it down.

"She went up and you had to actually climb out the window to get it down, so she went up... and I locked her out."

When academy product Rooney scored a wonder goal against Arsenal as a 16-year-old, Everton thought they had a new hero.

But Rooney's future lay elsewhere, as he made the short journey along the M62 to Manchester United in a £27m deal in 2004 after turning down a club-record contract offer from the Toffees.

"I got death threats," Rooney said. "My parents' house was getting spray-painted and smashed up.

"My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, her house was getting spray-painted. I think that's where you have to be mentally strong. The people around you have to help.

"Leaving was difficult because I went to Manchester United, and Liverpool and Manchester is a big rivalry so that made it a lot more difficult.

"But I was always of a mindset of 'I don't care'. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get there.

"I had to stay tough in my mind. This was people from my city so it was tough but I thought, 'I don't care', you have to be selfish and make these decisions."

Rooney was a big Everton fan growing up and Duncan Ferguson was his favourite player.

Ferguson initially joined Everton on loan in 1994 but soon signed up permanently - and made an instant impression on Rooney.

So when the Scot was sentenced to three months in prison for headbutting John McStay while playing for his former club Rangers in 1994, the young Rooney wrote letters to his hero - and received correspondence back.

"My idol was Duncan Ferguson," said Rooney.

"When I was a young boy, I used to write to him in jail and he would write back to me.

"This was when I was 10 or 12 years old - and then a few years later I was playing alongside him.

"I was too young to drive back then as well, so he would take me home from training. My family were all massive Evertonians, so when he would pull up outside my family home, my dad would be out the window.

"My letters were basically me telling him how much I loved him. When I eventually met him face-to-face, I told him it was me writing to him him and that was surreal."

What was key to winning five Premier League titles and a Champions League with Manchester United? Video games!

The Red Devils' all-time leading scorer revealed how he and his team-mates improved their communication while travelling on the team bus and playing five-versus-five on the army game SOCOM on the PlayStation Portable.

"I really believe a big part of our success was playing on the PSP," said Rooney.

"It got us communicating more - we used to play it on the plane, on the team bus.

"It would be me, Rio [Ferdinand], Michael Carrick, John O'Shea, Wes Brown.

"You have to talk, you have to tactically be right, go and revive people when they get killed and it was a massive part of our success - ask any of those players, it was brilliant."

Rooney also discussed how he developed a pre-match routine of listening to Scottish singer Susan Boyle, who rose to fame on the TV talent show Britain's Got Talent, with one song in particular his go-to.

"I've said before I listened to Susan Boyle, but I'd listen to one song. So I wasn't really too fussed on what music it was," Rooney said.

"I just listened to one song 'Wild Horses', that's it. Before every game. Just before I went out, it calmed me down, relaxed me.

"I used to watch all the talent shows, so it was a relaxing song and I thought 'why not?'

"So it was after the warm-up, just before we go out to actually kick off the game, and I put it on!"