Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has spoken about his love life for the first time since marrying his second wife, 31 years his junior, in 2023.
Richard Keyes left red-faced after tweeting about Sean Dyche’s firing (Image: @beINSPORTS_EN/Twitter)
Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has slammed persistent claims about his relationship with wife Lucy. The two married in 2023 after divorcing his ex-partner Julia 10 years ago.
Keys became a familiar face to football fans through his work with Sky Sports, particularly at the front of the broadcaster’s press team at the start of the Premier League in 1992. Keys was best known for her on-screen partnership with Andy Gray, but left Sky Sports after sexist comments made off-air surfaced. Later, the two met again at BeIN Sports, where they worked for 13 years.
However, Keys has regularly received comments about her personal life online. The experienced broadcaster was married to Julia for 34 years and filed for divorce in 2016 after Julia accused him of infidelity. Keyes was heavily criticized on social media, given that her spouse had previously been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
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He also faced claims that his new partner Lucy, who is 31 years younger than Keyes, was his daughter’s best friend. Keys confirmed that Lucy and her daughter Gemma had been socializing together in Qatar, but denied stories surrounding their relationship.
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“What’s harmful is that people are assuming that I ran off with my daughter’s best friend, locked her in a room and didn’t give her a choice whether she wanted to be with me or not,” he told the Telegraph. “It’s all nonsense.
“Lucy is one of the most powerful, strong-willed people you’ll ever meet. She’s very passionate about women’s rights. People see me as an easy target, but this narrative is unfair to her. That’s completely wrong.”
He added: “I never expected my 34-year marriage to end, but Lucy came into my life. Wow, what a force of nature. The rest is history.”
Keyes met Lucy, a lawyer, at a golf event in Qatar. She was working at the Qatar Investment Authority at the time. His decision to leave Giulia was criticized as his wife supported him during his controversial exit from Sky Sports in 2011.
Richard Keyes with ex-wife Julia and daughter Gemma in 2007 (Image: Getty Images)
However, the sports presenter denied claims that his wife was ill at the time of their separation. Instead, Keyes chose not to discuss Julia’s health, as he wanted to protect her privacy.
He explained to the Telegraph: “I’ve never sat down and talked about this with anyone, but I couldn’t let go of Julia dying of cancer or suffering from cancer. Sadly, she had cancer in 2008 and 2009 and we found a genius surgeon who removed it.”
It has been announced that Keys and Gray will be leaving BeIN Sports at the end of this season. He recently returned to the UK after leaving Qatar following an Iranian drone attack.
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