Richard Keys’ sister slams his ‘lying’ ex-wife for claiming she stood by cheating presenter during his heart op
Julia Keys has claimed she was by his bedside after 'insisting on an early operation which saved his life' - but Keys' sister says his ex-wife 'heartlessly swanned off' to Royal Ascot instead
RICHARD Keys' sister has accused his ex-wife of telling lies in an attempt to "publicise her ridiculous book".
Julia Keys, who was with the football presenter for 36 years before his affair with their daughter Jemma's best friend, has claimed that despite his infidelity she stood by him during a recent heart operation.
She said: "In June last year Richard was lying in hospital near death’s door from a heart artery defect, after I had insisted on an early operation which saved his life.
"He was telling me he wanted me back, that we could save our marriage. Yet he’d had dinner with Lucie just the night before the op."
However Keys' sister Susan has responded on Twitter.
She wrote: "So many lies by Julia Keys in her latest attempt to publicise her ridiculous book I hardly know where to start to put the record straight.
"I took Richard into hospital while she heartlessly swanned around at Royal Ascot I stayed with him throughout #lieslies.
"Some people may say I hate my ex sister-in-law Julia Keys not true I pity her she's delusional.'
"Embarrassing her kids 90 per cent of what she says is a lie affairs happen she should know #getoverit."
Julia Keys was married to former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys for 34 years.
She is 58 years old and is a trained psychotherapist.
Julia and her estranged husband, 60, have two children together, Jemma (an actress who was born in 1985) and Joshua (who was born in 1989 and works as an assistant producer in the USA).
She has been battling thyroid cancer over the last few years and had an operation on a tumour in her neck in 2009.
Julia stuck by Richard Keys in the midst of a sexism storm in 2011. Keys and co-host Andy Grey were recorded off-air making lewd comments about a female colleague, he resigned soon after the footage was leaked.
Julia began to have suspicions about Richard's infidelity when his behaviour changed and he became protective and defensive over his phone privacy.
Julia, who has published a book on how to identify when your partner is cheating on you called MANscript, confirmed her suspicions when Richard fell asleep during a train journey and she replied to messages his mistress, Lucie Rose, had been sending to his phone.
She told the Mail On Sunday: "Suddenly a message came through from Lucie saying, 'Are you OK?'. I took the phone and pretended to be Richard, and wrote 'No. I’m not.'
"The response was, 'You sound so sad. I wish I was there to give you a big cuddle.' We went on messaging from there."
Julia claims that when she confronted her husband about the messages, he finally admitted that he had become "extremely close" to Lucie.
She claims Richards bullied her into making a statement in October 2016 that the affair had not taken place.
But in a U-Turn he has now admitted to the affair, and said: "If you really love your wife but are tempted to get a bit of excitement elsewhere you have to be prepared to lose the one you really love — it just isn’t worth it.”"
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Lucie was working in Qatar for the Qatar Investment Authority, but she has since returned to the UK to work for Baker & McKenzie Ltd, a city law firm.
She has so far refused to comment, although she recently posted pictures of herself living the high life in a bikini aboard a friend's yacht to her social media accounts.
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