ON SPORTS PUNDIT’S AFFAIR My marriage is over but I have told Richard to be sure it’s all worth it
SUNDAY MIRROR
her, and I genuinely, genuinely wish him well. I wish them both well.”
Speaking at her home in Berkshire, Julia said Keys had not been in touch since photos emerged of him with 28-year-old Lucie in London. His wife said she had no idea he was back in Britain.
The lovers were pictured strolling armin-arm close to the £ 400-a-night Hyatt Regency Hotel London – The Churchill, where they were staying.
BETRAYAL
They were also seen enjoying a romantic meal together in the capital’s upmarket restaurant The Montagu.
But Julia revealed that while Keys was with Lucie last week she received a love heart from him in a text and a message that said: “Please let me come home. I love you, I can’t live without you.”
The betrayal comes after the shamed Sky sports presenter’s infidelity emerged last autumn. At the time Julia quit their home in the Qatari capital of Doha and filed for divorce in London. Both later claimed their marriage was fine.
But now Julia claims her husband bullied her into making a public statement saying the affair never happened. She said: “I did it for the sake of our family even though I knew he had been carrying on with her.
“After that he apologised and bought me roses and a teddy in an attempt to patch our marriage up. He promised me that he would not see Lucie again. And this week he sent me texts saying he was categorically not with her and had no feelings for her. I am utterly stunned. He’s a pathological liar. I really don’t know who he is.”
Keys met Lucie on the expat circuit in Doha. She had reportedly already become friends with his daughter Jemma, 31.
She worked in the legal department of the Qatar Investment Authority for almost two years before returning to Britain where she is now a private equity lawyer in London. Keys moved to Qatar to be the face of BelN sports channels after resigning in disgrace from his £500,000-a-year post at Sky Sports in 2011 for making sexist remarks.
He and co-presenter Andy Gray had made disparaging off-air comments about female match official Sian Massey, claiming she did not know the offside rule.
In another studio conversation, which was not broadcast, Keys asked pundit Jamie Redknapp about a former girlfriend, saying: “Did you smash it?” – offensive slang for having sex
Julia said yesterday her husband’s adultery had been difficult for Jemma, who starred in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2004 to 2007, and their son Josh, 27.
And she said it had also taken its toll on her own health. The psychotherapist, who has a rare form of thyroid cancer, said: “It hasn’t helped my health, but it is what it is. I’m all right. I’ve just got to get on with it.”
He sent texts that he was not with her. He’s a pathological liar. I don’t know who he is. JULIA KEYS ON HUSBAND KEYS FINAL BETRAYAL