Richard Keys' ex 'knew nothing of his wedding until two hours before'

EXCLUSIVE Ex wife of shamed former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys, 66, ‘knew nothing about his wedding until he texted her TWO HOURS before’: TV host marries daughter’s best friend after affair and says he’s a ‘very lucky man’

• The couple tied the knot at a ceremony in Kingswear, Devon, on Saturday
• Keys had denied leaving his wife Julia for her while she was fighting cancer

The ex wife of shamed former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys knew nothing about his wedding to their daughter’s friend until he texted her two hours before, a friend said today. 

Keys, 66, married Lucie Rose, 35, in a £20,000 ceremony in Devon attended by family and friends, which did not include his 38-year-old daughter Jemma or son Joshua.

The broadcaster described himself as a ‘very lucky man’ and said he ‘didn’t care’ if critics thought he was too old. 

He split with Julia Keys after 36 years of marriage when news of his shock relationship emerged in 2016, with his ex revealing how the affair ‘devastated’ her as she recovered from thyroid cancer and also wrecked the lives of their two children.  

A source close to Julia said she was unaware of the wedding until she received a text from Richard just two hours before he tied the knot in an open-air civil ceremony in Kingswear near Brixham, Devon. 

Julia shared her thoughts on the news in an exclusive interview, telling MailOnline: ‘What can I say – I’m in a new relationship now and I’ve put Richard and our marriage behind me now.

Richard Keys, 66, married Lucie Rose, 35, a friend of his 38-year-old daughter Jemma, at a ceremony in Kingswear, Devon last weekend 

Lucie Rose, 35, (right) is pictured with Richard Keys’ daughter Jemma, 38, who was previously one of her best friends until it emerged she was having a relationship with her father

Keys (centre) pictured with his ex-wife Julia (left) and their daughter Jemma (right) 

Lucie, 35, married Keys, 66 on Saturday. The former Sky Sports presenter had previously denied having an affair with her

Lucie shows off her body in a snap shared on social media 

Lucie (pictured in an undated social media photo) was seen with Keys at a five-star hotel in London last week 

‘I wish him and Lucie all the best. If that’s what makes him happy then I’m happy for him but as for me it’s all in the past now. I’m in a new relationship and I’m really happy and that’s all I want to focus on. 

‘It looks as if he is happy as well from the photographs so all the best to them. As I say anything to do with Richard and our marriage is in the past so I wish them well.’ 

In previous interviews, Julia said the affair ruined the career of her Hollyoaks actress daughter as she spiralled into alcoholism and depression. 

Jemma also faced legal action over a string of abusive texts she sent to Lucie before charges were dropped by prosecutors. 

READ MORE – Who is Richard Keys’ new wife Lucie Rose?

Keys – who was sacked in disgrace from his £500,000-a-year job fronting Sky’s Premier League coverage in 2011 after making disparaging remarks about female referee Sian Massey-Ellis – proposed to Lucie two years ago. 

Covid postponed the wedding several times, but they finally exchanged vows on Saturday under cobalt blue skies and blazing sunshine. 

Speaking to The Sun before the ceremony, Keys said: ‘I’m a very lucky man, although feeling a bit nervous. We’re heading off to Canada for our honeymoon which is a bit different.

‘Then it’s back to work for both of us in August and the start of the football season for me. People think I might be a bit long in the tooth now but I don’t care.’

The couple were pictured on social media last week enjoying drinks at a £400-a-night, five-star hotel in London. In April, they sent out ‘save the dates’ to guests along with £45 bottles of personalised Veuve Clicquot champagne.

 An invite seen by MailOnline reveals how the couple booked accommodation for wedding guests at the four-star, £245 a night Dart Marina Hotel in Dartmouth and laid on a ferry to shuttle guests across the river to the venue.

It added: ‘Dartmouth, Kingswear and Brixham have a range of other accommodation options on offer and Lucie because we all know Dickie is useless at this would be happy to provide others if anyone needs help.’

Under the heading dress code, it adds: ‘We do not want to inhibit your style and flair so we are not telling anyone what to wear, except just be absolutely fabulous darlings.’

Ahead of Saturday’s ceremony there were pre-wedding drinks at the Dart Marina Hotel while the ceremony itself started at 1pm and was followed ‘by a day of food and fun’.

The nuptials ended on Sunday with a post wedding ‘hair of the dog’ party at a venue that was to be confirmed and was arranged by a local wedding planner called Rebecca Marie, who is a friend of Lucie’s.

Lucie and Keys watching a Brighton v Coventry City game at the Amex Stadium on February 17, 2018

The pair married in a £20,000 ceremony attended by close family and friends at this clifftop venue in Devon 

Pictures posted on social media show Keys wearing a silver-grey suit standing opposite Lucie who is wearing a white wedding gown and holding a bouquet of white roses.

A friend of Lucie’s wrote alongside the picture: ‘Non stop love for the past few days,’ with a heart emoji. 

Among other guests were Keys sister Susan and pals from Qatar based BeInsports where he now based with former footballer and fellow pundit Andy Gray. 

It emerged in September 2016 that Julia Keys had filed for divorce on grounds of adultery amid accusations her husband had an affair with Lucie.

The pair were understood to have been introduced by a mutual acquaintance on the expat social circuit in Qatari capital Doha, where Keys was working as a presenter for TV network BeIN Sports.

At the time, it was reported that Julia, a psychotherapist, felt her husband had ‘run out of chances’ after she had stood by him following his sacking by Sky Sports.

Keys and co-presenter Andy Gray made offensive off-air remarks about Premier League official Massey, claiming she didn’t know the offside rule.

In another studio conversation, which was filmed but not transmitted, Keys asked pundit Jamie Redknapp about a former girlfriend, saying ‘Did you smash it?’ meaning ‘did you have sex with her?’

Keys had previously denied leaving his wife while she had thyroid cancer, telling The Athletic in 2019: ‘I’ll mention the unmentionable for you. Did I leave my wife fighting cancer? No.

Keys with his ex wife Julia (right) and daughter Jemma (left) at the HMV Football Extravaganza in London in 2004

Julia (seen with Keys in 2006) has previously written about the emotional impact of her husband’s affair

‘I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why our marriage ended the way it did, but my wife was fighting cancer for seven years before I left her and she had been in remission for seven years.

‘She and I went to London every day of her fight, prior to a ground-breaking operation that saw her in a period of recovery.

‘Julia had been in remission for seven years. I know how hard it was for her when things went wrong. 

‘I wasn’t going to start engaging in a tit-for-tat, he-said, she-said, respond to everything that was said about me.

‘If people believe that I walked away with my wife fighting cancer with a friend of my daughter’s. I can’t change that now.

‘Tell a lie twice and it becomes the truth. Tell it on social media and it haunts you forever. I didn’t fall in love with a friend of my daughter’s.’  

In April 2018, Julia wrote about her husband’s affair in her book The MANScript, saying: ‘Richard’s affair didn’t just devastate my world, but the world of our children Jemma and Josh too.

‘It is only now, two years on, that he has admitted he did have an affair with Lucie, as well as acknowledging his deceit and the damage it has caused.

She also told The Sun: ‘He met Jemma’s friend Lucie, who was working in Doha, and the lies began. He claimed she and her friends thought of him as their ”Doha Dad”.

‘I remember at Richard’s birthday party, just as I was leaving, Lucie grabbed my arm and said: ”Are you leaving now Julia?’ She was so insistent, and I thought it was odd – then Richard was ages coming home.

Richard Keys (right) now presents a football programme in Qatar after they were sacked from Sky Sports following a sexism row 

‘When I questioned him, he’d said Lucie needed to talk to him as she had a problem. I don’t feel bitter towards Lucie, but deeply disappointed that she could devastate our family like this.’

Keys still lives in Doha where he is the frontman for the company’s football coverage alongside former Sky Sports colleague Gray. 

In 2018, Jemma told in 2018 how her mother discovered WhatsApp messages from Lucie on his phone while they were on holiday in St Ives. 

‘I heard Mum shouting, ‘Your father’s been having an affair,’ ‘ Jemma told the Daily Mail. ‘My heart stopped. Then I asked, ‘With who?’ ‘

In the midst of her pain Jemma began bombarding Lucie with abusive and threatening late-night text messages which referred to her as ‘the filthiest sl**’ and a ‘Qatar w****’.

One warned, ominously: ‘I’m watching every move you make. You don’t know what’s coming.’

Jemma has since said she was in a state of ‘alcoholic blackout’ when she sent them – and would never have done it while sober.

She was dramatically arrested in a morning police raid, and says three officers wearing body armour threw her into a police van in her pyjamas. 

She faced an unseemly court case in the full glare of the media and, potentially, a six-month prison sentence. 

But despite being charged with harassment and appearing before magistrates, she was spared the embarrassment of a full trial when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case.

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