Richard Keys’ ex wife breaks silence on his wedding to daughter’s best friend after ‘finding out two hours before
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RICHARD KEYS’ ex wife says she knew nothing about his wedding to their daughter’s former best friend until he texted her just two hours before it.
The ex-Sky Sports presenter, 66, married lawyer Lucie Rose, 30 years younger than him, on a Devon country estate on Saturday.
They first met when Richard moved to the Middle East to work for broadcaster beIN Sports with his long-time pal Andy Gray.
Lucie, who was best pals with his daughter Jemma, became embroiled in a secret fling with the presenter.
Cheated wife Julia told The Sun that the affair in 2016 which brought their 36-year marriage crashing down had left their family “devastated”.
At the time Richard denied he had left her for Lucie.
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He also later denied claims that he walked away from his wife while she was battling thyroid cancer.
Keys is honeymooning in Canada with Lucie after tying the knot at the weekend, but the bash was not attended by his 38-year-old daughter Jemma or son Joshua.
Now the says that a source close to Julia has revealed that she was unaware of the wedding until she received a text from Richard just two hours before Lucie walked the aisle.
Julia told them: “What can I say - I'm in a new relationship now and I've put Richard and our marriage behind me now.
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“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.”
Julia had previously said: “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 — and I haven’t told anyone this before — 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.
“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.”
His daughter, former Hollyoaks actress Jemma Keys, opened up over the abusive text messages she sent to her best friend after discovering she had slept with her dad.
Back in 2018 she revealed the betrayal she felt when the affair was discovered and her battle with alcoholism.
Jemma said she was in a state of "alcoholic blackout" when she sent the messages to Lucie Rose, including one that said: "You're the filthiest sl** I can ever think of."
Jemma said she and her mum found out about the affair while the family was on holiday. That then, she said, led to a two-year nightmare including being arrested for the abusive texts.
At the time of sending the late-night messages she said she was drinking three bottles of wine a day from 8am.
The charges for harassment were later dropped and Jemma said that she was trying to deal with her alcohol addiction and had been in rehab as she outlined her determination to remain sober.
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Keys 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.
He is now the face of the BeIN Sports channels which broadcast all 365 Premier League games per season mainly on its flagship "Super Saturday" programme.
