Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys marries his daughter's friend after denying cheating on cancer-stricken wife with her

Former Sky Sports anchor Richard Keys has tied the knot clandestinely with Lucie Rose, a close friend of his daughter. This news comes after Keys repeatedly denied cheating on his cancer-battling wife with the younger woman.

The 66-year-old found new love with Rose, a 34-year-old lawyer, leading to a private wedding ceremony that came with a hefty £20,000 price tag, according to Daily Mail. This exclusive gathering comprised a tight-knit group of family and friends but unsurprisingly didn't feature his 35-year-old daughter Jemma.

The revelation of this unexpected relationship in 2016 marked the end of Richard Keys' 36-year-long matrimonial journey. In 2018, Julia, his estranged wife, opened up about how the affair shattered her world (via Daily Mail). She said:

"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."

The fiasco also brought legal troubles for Jemma, who faced charges for sending a barrage of abusive texts to Lucie, which were eventually dropped.

The global COVID-19 pandemic had caused multiple delays for Keys and Lucie Rose, but the couple finally exchanged vows in an open-air civil ceremony last weekend. The serene setting in Kingswear near Brixham, Devon was their chosen venue.

In a chat with The Sun before getting married, Richard Keys said (via Daily Mail):

"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."

Photos posted on social media gave a glimpse of the newlyweds: Richard Keys in his silver-grey suit and Lucie Rose in a pristine white wedding dress. Among the notable attendees at the wedding were Keys' sister Susan and his colleagues from BeInSports in Qatar.

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Richard Keys on the events that led to his divorce from ex-wife Julia

In September of 2016, it came to light that Julia Keys sought a divorce citing adultery. The scandalous affair between Richard Keys and Lucie Rose was said to have been at the epicentre of this move.

According to the Daily Mail, the duo had allegedly been introduced by a mutual contact in the expatriate community in Doha.

Keys, at that time, was working as a presenter for beIN SPORTS in the Qatari capital. Julia reportedly felt she had exhausted all leniency for her husband. She had previously stood by him amidst the storm caused by his dismissal from Sky Sports after making sexist remarks about a female match official.

Richard Keys vehemently denied any romantic involvement with Lucie, addressing the controversy in an interview with The Athletic in 2019. His words remained unchanged (via Daily Mail):

"I'll mention the unmentionable for you. Did I leave my wife fighting cancer? No. 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."

The presenter continued, expressing his frustration over the rumors:

"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."

Keys married his first wife Julia in 1982. The couple had two children together, Jemma and Josh.