Shamed sports pundit Keys has ‘affair’ while wife battles cancer
TV sports presenter Richard Keys is reportedly divorcing his wife of 34 years after she discovered he was having an alleged affair with one of their daughter’s friends.
The 59-year-old broadcaster is said to have had a relationship with 27-year-old lawyer Lucie Rose, a lawyer whom he met in Qatar.
Mr Keys, who previously admitted behaving in a ‘prehistoric way’ towards women, has moved to the Middle East since leaving his job at Sky Sports in disgrace over sexist remarks he made off-air.
His wife Julia, who has thyroid cancer, had moved into a villa in Qatar to be with her husband.
But Mrs Keys, a psychotherapist, has since returned to the UK amid accusations her husband had an affair with Ms Rose, who was believed to have been friends with the couple’s daughter Jemma (31).
The 56-year-old is understood to have confronted her husband before deciding to file for divorce on the grounds of adultery.
Mr Keys and Ms Rose are tho ught to have been introduced by a mutual acquaintance on the expat social circuit in Doha, the Qatari capital.
Pictures on social media of the lawyer suggest she was a regular fixture of the party scene there.
Sources told the Daily Mail it was “particularly cruel” for Mr Keys to behave like this while his wife was having treatment.
One said: “This is the most appalling behaviour. He knew that Julia was very ill but carried on anyway. It has knocked Julia for six and it has had an adverse effect on her health. She is absolutely devastated.”
Lawyers acting for Mrs Keys submitted divorce papers to a British court in August and have sent papers to Keys and Ms Rose.
The presenter is understood to be returning to Britain next week for a meeting with his wife.
Mr Keys presented Sky Sports’ coverage of Premier League football for 19 years, before resigning in disgrace from his £500,000-a-year job in 2011. He and co-presenter Andy Gray had made disparaging off-air remarks about female match official Sian Massey, claiming she was ignorant of the offside law.
In another studio conversation, which was filmed but not transmitted, Mr Keys asked pundit Jamie Redknapp about a former girlfriend. The presenter asked him: “Did you smash it?” — slang for: “Did you have sex with her?”
A source said: “When Richard made those sexist remarks at Sky Sports, there was a lot of bad feeling towards him. Despite the outcry, Julia stood by him and made a highly public show of her support for him. She was his rock back then and now, when she needs him the most to help her fight her illness, he does this.”
Following his departure from Sky, Mr Keys presented a Saturday football show on TalkSport radio, before moving to Qatar. He is now the presenter of the BeIN sports channels.
Jemma, who starred in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2004 to 2007, is believed to have become friends with Ms Rose in Qatar before the alleged affair developed.
Ms Rose worked in the legal department of the Qatar Investment Authority for almost two years before returning to Britain. She now works as private equity lawyer at the London branch of an international law firm.
Mrs Keys failed to respond to requests for comment