He’s petrified of turning 60, says love-cheat soccer pundit’s wife
THE estranged wife of disgraced Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys – who carried on an affair while begging her to return – says he is petrified of turning 60.
Julia Keys told The Mail on Sunday his duplicity with 27-year-old lawyer Lucie Rose – a friend of his actress daughter Jemma – had also destroyed his relationship with their son Josh.
Mrs Keys, his wife of 34 years, said: ‘He said he’s afraid of getting to 60. And this girl made it very plain that she was interested in him. He was flattered and he went for it. But enough is enough. He was continuing to see her while telling me it was over.’
Mr Keys, who landed a £420,000 tax-free TV job in Qatar after leaving Sky Sports in disgrace for making sexist remarks, flew into the UK last week. The presenter, who is 60 in April, and Miss Rose were pictured together in London, where they spent two nights at a five-star hotel in the West End.
Mrs Keys said: ‘He was texting me saying it was me he loved and me he wanted. We tried to reconcile the marriage. But there is no chance now.
‘I’m really considering the fact that something has gone wrong in his head. He’s got himself into such a mess.
‘One of the saddest things is the effect on Josh. He had been incredibly mature and understanding and toldd Richard last year, “If you want to be with Lucie, that’s sad but these things happen. Just don’t lie to Mum and treat her with the respect that she deserves.”
‘Richard assured him that he wanted me. Josh now says, “That’s it. I’ll never believe another word that comes out of his mouth.”’
Mrs Keys, 57, said the pictures of her husband and Miss Rose were the final public humiliation.
She had halted divorce proceedings for the sake of the family and was prepared to give her husband another chance, though she refused to live with him. ‘When I first found out about the affair I was devastated. But he said he wanted to be reconciled and that the affair with Lucie was over,’ she said.
‘But I had evidence he was seeing her and that he’d met up with her in Dubai in December. The pictures last week were the final straw. Only a couple of hours beforehand, he was texting me that he loved me.
‘He said he wanted to be back together with me. Now there is no chance of that. It is over.’