Richard Keys hits back against wedding claims in furious blog post
Richard Keys hits back: My new wife WASN’T my daughter’s pal, divorce DIDN’T harm my kids, my first wife DIDN’T have cancer when I left her, he says in furious blog after marrying woman half his age (but the ex he gave two hours’ notice isn’t convinced)
- Keys, 66, married Lucie Rose, 35, at an open-air ceremony in Devon on Saturday
- He had denied leaving his wife Julia for her while she was fighting cancer
TV pundit Richard Keys has launched an astonishing online tirade after tying the knot with a woman half his age.
Keys, 66, married lawyer Lucie Rose, 35, in a low-key open-air ceremony at the weekend surrounded by just a few close family and friends.
The couple met in 2016 after he quit Sky Sports and while he was still married to wife of 36 years Julia – the mother of their two children.
Pictures of the ceremony, which was at Kingswear near Brixham, Devon, on Saturday afternoon emerged on social media accounts of Lucie’s friends.
Shortly after news of their relationship emerged Julia revealed how she had been left ‘devastated’ by the affair as she was recovering from thyroid cancer.
But in a furious rant Keys lashed out on his online blog and said: ‘When my first marriage collapsed my wife was not suffering with cancer. She’d been in remission after a dreadful scare – one she managed with dignity and bravery.
Richard Keys, 66, married Lucie Rose, 35, in a low-key open-air ceremony at the weekend surrounded by just a few close family and friends
Lucie Rose, 35, (right) is pictured with Richard Keys’ daughter Jemma, 38
Keys (centre) pictured with his ex-wife Julia (left) and their daughter Jemma (right)
‘And I was with her every step of the way. She is still very much alive and well, although it is true that cancer sufferers always need to be careful about their health.’
Keys also hit out at claims saying his affair with Lucie did not ‘wreck’ his children Joshua and Jemma’s lives saying ‘one was 28 and the other 32’ – although neither attended the weekend wedding.
His attack came after Julia said in a previous interview that the affair had ruined the career of former Hollyoaks actress Jemma who had spiralled into alcoholism and depression.
The sports presenter, who now works for Qatar based BeIn sports, also dismissed claims that Lucie and his daughter were pals, saying: ‘Lucie was never my daughters’ friend – let alone her best friend.
‘They met twice. The circumstances don’t matter – at this stage. That’s something I’ll address going forward.’
Speaking of his departure from Sky Sports in January 2011 after he and fellow pundit Andy Gray had made disparaging remarks about a female referee Keys said: ‘I resigned of my own volition after Sky sacked Andy.
‘As he himself has said “they were after me. Keysie was collateral damage”. He’s my mate. I will always stand by him – just as he has me.’
A source close to Julia said: ‘She has moved on with her life and put her marriage to Richard behind her but she’s adamant the children were affected by the affair – despite what he says and them being grown up as he implies makes no difference. It hit them both hard.
‘The problem with Richard is that the truth hurts and sadly he doesn’t know what the truth is.’
Keys split with his ex-wife Julia when news of his shock relationship with Lucie emerged in 2016. A source close to Julia said she was unaware of the wedding until she received a text from Richard just two hours before it took place.
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.
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.’
Keys’ daughter 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 proposed to Lucie two years ago and 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 some of his pals from BeInsports.
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 after he left 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 he resigned 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.’
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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