Richard Keys' reported affair with his daughter's friend was uncovered by his cancer-stricken wife, who he had been married to for 36 years.
The former Sky Sports presenter, 66, met Lucie Rose - who he has just got hitched to - when he was working in Doha for Al Jazeera.
His actress daughter Jemma, previously described Lucie as a "friend" in a previous interview, although Richard has since issued a statement denying this.
After being sacked from Sky following a leaked recording of sexist comments, Richard moved to the Middle East with his ex wife Julia and their children Josh and Jemma.
But after the presenter's birthday party at which lawyer Lucie, now 34, attended, things began to unravel...
An innocent question
Richard and Lucie are believed to have been introduced by a mutual acquaintance on the expat social circuit in Qatar.
However, when the presenter organised a bash for his birthday Julia, who was still recovering from thyroid cancer, realised they were more than just friends in 2016.
She wrote about her husband's reported affair in The MANScript, which she co-wrote with Jacqui Coles
Recalling the first sign something was amiss in her marriage, she said: "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."
Suspicious text messages
Julia says she confirmed her suspicions about the affair when Richard fell asleep during a train journey and she replied to messages Lucie Rose, had reportedly 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."
Spending less time at home
After discovering the alleged affair, which Richard denied, Julia, whose dad had just been diagnosed with dementia, said cheaters will become secretive with their phones, spend less time at home and often mention the 'other woman' in innocuous ways.
They also have a change in their sexual habits and stop noticing their spouse, she claimed.
However, Richard denied reports he left his wife when she was ill, insisting he he didn't know why his marriage with Julia broke down.
'I don't know why our marriage ended'
After being accused of leaving Julia 'in the most appalling way', according to a source in the Daily Mail, Richard told The Athletic in 2019: "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.
"She and I went to London every day of her fight, prior to a ground-breaking operation that saw her in a period of recovery."
Richard claimed Julia "had been remission for seven years" when their marriage dissolved.
He added: "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."
'Too many lies'
According to Julia, Richard did attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife in 2017 while lying in a hospital bed having almost died from a heart artery defect.
"He was telling me he wanted me back, that we could save our marriage," she claimed, "yet he'd had dinner with Lucie just the night before the op."
As a result, she concluded: "too many lies have been told" for her to ever consider forgiving the father of her children and taking him back.
'Deeply disappointed'
Julia, who reportedly filed for divorce in 2016, says she doesn't feel bitter towards Lucie but is "deeply disappointed" her actions devastated her family.
As for her ex, the mum-of-two said she felt sorry for Richard because "he'll miss out on the joys growing old together would have brought - the possibility of grandchildren, the chance to travel together, to enjoy the world at an equal pace".
Julia includes a statement from Richard in her book, which seems to hint at his anguish at losing his family's respect.
He said: "You have to be prepared to lose the one you really love – and it just isn't worth it."
