Disgraced TV pundit Richard Keys admits claims he cheated on his wife Julia with a 27-year-old woman are ‘partly true’

The football pundit said there was “an element of truth” in allegations that he had an affair with daughter’s friend

SHAMED Richard Keys yesterday admitted there was “an element of truth” to the claims he had an affair with a 27-year-old woman.

Confronted by the Sun on Sunday at Heathrow as he headed home for crisis talks with wife Julia, 56, the footie pundit, 59, seemed to let slip more than he intended.

Amid fears he could be lashed or jailed for adultery in Qatar, the strict Muslim country where he is working, a flustered Keys said: “There’s an element of truth, but not to the degree that you guys have been trying to make.

“I have never not been with my wife.”

Keys had previously refused to comment on allegations he had an affair with lawyer Lucie Rose.

Last weekend Julia, who has been battling thyroid cancer, insisted her husband had not had a fling — just 24 hours after announcing they would divorce.

Keys, who quit his £500,000-a-year Sky Sports job in 2011 over sexist comments, flew from Doha after a free golf break to Abu Dhabi with Andy Gray, his co-star on the BeIN Sports channel.

On Tuesday he was spotted shouting into his mobile near his £10,400-a-month four-bed villa.

It is thought to be part of the package he gets for appearing on air for just one hour a week.

Keys is believed to have met Lucie at the next-door Grand Hyatt hotel’s Dunes bar, which hosts “liquid brunches” every Friday afternoon.

A source said: “She was a familiar face here.”