FURY OF CANCER VICTIM WIFE AT It’s disgusting what Richard and Lucie have put me through knowing about my condition BETRAYED JULIA KEYS YESTERDAY
Welcome red card for Mr Pond Life
THE cancer-hit wife of TV soccer presenter Richard Keys accused him of destroying their family yesterday after discovering his affair with a young woman.
Julia, who has thyroid cancer, was heartbroken by news of the cheating 59-year-old’s relationship with family friend Lucie Rose, 27, and filed for divorce.
Keys, 59 – who lost a £500,000-ayear Sky Sports job in 2011 in a row over sexism – has faced a furious online barrage of abuse from disgusted sports fans.
But in a bizarre posting he merely described the reaction to news of his fling with attractive lawyer Lucie as “a mixed bag”.
Julia, 56, was pulling no punches as she revealed Keys had been begging her to take him back.
“What do I want to say about it all?” she said. “It’s disgusting what Richard and Lucie have done to me, what they have put me through and knowing about my condition.
Luxurious
“It’s not only me but also the rest of the family, including my son Joshua and my daughter Jemma.”
Asked if she also blames her husband’s mistress, Julia replied: “Yes, I do blame Lucie because she came into our lives and I thought she was our friend.
“I have instigated divorce proceedings. He is not divorcing me.
“He has been begging me to get back together with him to give him another chance and make our marriage work and that he had no intention of staying with her.
“He has been bombarding me with desperate appeals to get back together, including turning up on the doorstep here.
“But enough is enough. I have to look after myself now. It has had a negative impact on my health but that has to take priority now and I’ve got to move on.”
Mrs Keys was speaking at her home in Berkshire just a few hours after her husband’s infidelity was revealed.
Julia and Keys were introduced to Lucie in Doha, Qatar, where he works for the English language sports network BeIN.
The couple moved to a luxurious villa complete with an outdoor pool after he left his job at Sky Sports in disgrace over crude remarks about a woman referee.
It is understood they were introduced to Lucie by a mutual acquaintance on the expat social circuit in the Qatari capital.
According to a profile on the networking site LinkedIn, Lucie used to work for the Qatari investment authority.
The profile says she now works as a private equity lawyer for Baker & McKenzie, the world’s second-largest international law firm.
Julia said she discovered their affair at the end of May. She claims her husband lied to her that he had called it off. I HOPE Julia Keys knows there’s a Mexican wave of outrage sweeping the country on her behalf. Women and men are throwing up their hands at the gobsmackingly grubby betrayal of her cheating husband.
While Julia was bravely fighting thyroid cancer, Richard the rat was having it off with a blonde lawyer half his age. That’s how Keys rewarded the wife of 34 years Keys presented the Sky Sports coverage of Premier League football for 19 years before resigning in disgrace over sexist remarks he and co-presenter Andy Gray made off-air about match official Sian Massey.
In another studio conversation, which was filmed but not transmitted, Keys asked pundit Jamie Redknapp about a who stoo stood by him when his Sky TV career was almo almost kicked into touch and he was exposed as a potty-mouthed sexist pig.
I don’t know how Julia forgave him for calling a woman “it”, making disgusting sexual jokes and goading a female colleague with that charming soccer chant “Get your t*ts out for the lads”.
But she proved his rock and backed him when he apologised for his “prehistoric” behaviour. Then, when Julia was sick and former girlfriend: “Did you smash it?” – crude slang for: “Did you have sex with her?” At the time of the February 2011 scandal, Keys was forced to deny his marriage was in crisis.
He told reporters “Everything’s fine” as he and Julia quashed rumours of a bust-up.
He also denied suggestions of a move at her lowest ebb, he did the dirty on her. Thankfully, Julia has now had enough and is divorcing Keys – blowing the final whistle on the footie expert who thinks women are too thick to understand the offside rule.
She is showing enormous strength, concentrating on her own health and determined to move on – while her prehistoric husband has gone back a few millennia and proved he’s total pond life.
Rachael’s column is on page 27 to Arab TV network Al Jazeera eera by explaining he had flown to Qatar atar because he had a “date” there.
Looking shocked, Julia joked:d: “Date? Not with a woman?”
Days earlier Julia had emergedged from their home without her weddingding ring but Keys claimed she hadd simply forgotten to put it back on her er finger after a shower.
After leaving Sky Sports, Keys and Gray then went on to present a football show on TalkSport radio, before moving to Qatar, which will host the World Cup in 2022.
His contract with the BeIN sports channels runs for another six years.
Lucie, now living in Hackney, East London, has refused to comment on her relationship with Keys.
He has previously admitted behaving in a “prehistoric way” towards women.
The disgraced star wrote on Twitter yesterday: “I expected a mixed bag of reaction, thanks for the support. There are many inaccuracies in the reports.”