Richard Keys insists he didn’t leave his ex-wife while she had cancer and ‘never expected’ his 34-year marriage to finish until he was ‘bowled over’ by his current partner.
Former Sky Sports presenter Keys separated from Julia in 2016 and started a relationship with Lucie Rose, who’s 31 years younger than him.
It was suggested, mainly on social media, that Julia had cancer on the time of the divorce but Keys insists this was not the case.
Keys, 68, also dismissed claims his current partner Lucie, who was friends together with his daughter Jemma, was coerced into the connection.
‘I’ve never sat with anybody and talked about this, but I didn’t leave Julia dying of cancer, or suffering with cancer,’ Keys told The Telegraph.
‘Sadly, she had cancer in 2008 and ’09, and we bumped into a genius surgeon who removed it. During that period, we travelled 30 days straight to seek out one of the best specialists at one of the best hospitals, one of the best anaesthetists.
‘I remember working at Arsenal on the day of the operation. It wasn’t that I used to be uninterested, I just didn’t want people to know she was unwell or to herald the intrusion that might naturally follow.’
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Discussing his relationship with Lucie, who he married in 2023, Keys added: ‘I never expected my marriage would end after 34 years, but Lucie bowled into my life and, wow, what a force of nature. And the remaining is history.
‘I knew I desired to be with Lucie, but I couldn’t emotionally get there. It took me without end to alter course. It was only the results of Lucie’s patience, and my sister Susan’s belief that she has all the time known what’s right for me.
‘So, it wasn’t an overnight thing in any respect. The hurt is something you don’t need to inflate.
‘What’s damaging is that individuals presume I ran away with my daughter’s best mate, locked her in a room, and gave her no selection about whether she desired to be with me or not.
‘All of which is nonsense. Lucie’s one of the powerful, strong-minded individuals you’ll come across. She’s deeply keen about women’s rights. People see me as a simple goal, however the narrative isn’t fair on her.
‘It’s totally flawed.’
Why did Sky Sports sack Richard Keys?
During a Premier League game between Liverpool and Wolves in 2011, Richard Keys and Andy Gray made sexist comments about female assistant referee Sian Massey.
Believing their microphones had been switched off, Keys said: ‘Someone higher get down there and explain offside to her.
Gray responded: ‘Yeah, I do know. Can you suspect that? Female linesman. Forget what I said – they probably don’t know the offside rule.’
‘Course they don’t,’ said Keys.
Gray replied: ‘Why is there a female linesman? Someone’s f*cked up big.’
In one other leaked clip, Keys was seen asking ex-England midfielder Jamie Redknapp whether he ‘smashed’ a female colleague.
‘Mind you, that’s a silly query. If you happen to were anywhere near it, you actually smashed it,’ he added.
Keys married his first wife Julia in 1982 and had the pair had two children together, Jemma and Josh.
Following their divorce in 2016, Julia wrote an infidelity survival guide and claimed her ex’s behaviour ‘didn’t just devastate my world, however the world of our kids, too.’
Keys has faced criticism over the 32-year age difference between him and his second wife but Lucie says she is has never understood the backlash.
‘It baffles people, but I don’t feel it. I never have,’ said Lucie, who’s a partner in private funds at Proskauer Rose, one among the most important Recent York law firms.
The pair lived apart for a decade as Keys worked in Qatar for sports broadcaster beIN SPORTS but are actually living together in London after he left the corporate.
At the same time as he approached 70, Keys desires to have one other child, insisting he can be a ‘very, very completely satisfied man’ if ‘something of that nature happened’.
‘I’ve looked around at men my age who’ve entered the fatherhood phase for a second time, and so they all appear to be loads more relaxed,’ he added. ‘They’re more understanding of the role they’ve.’
Keys fronted Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage for nearly 20 years before leaving the corporate in 2011 after making derogatory comments about female assistant referee Sian Massey.
His long-term co-presenter Andy Gray also left Sky Sports after more clips were leaked showing each behave in a sexist manner.
‘Prehistoric banter isn’t acceptable in the trendy world. I accept that,’ Keys said on the time. ‘We failed to alter when the world has modified.’
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