Richard Keys and Andy Grey trashed Gabby Logan’s historic sexism allegations, insisting that they’re “simple targets”. Of their first joint interview with a British newspaper in over 10 years, Grey advised Telegraph Sport: “I want I used to be extra like Keysy and stated, ‘F— y’all.’
BBC presenter Logan, writing in her memoir ‘The First Half’ which was revealed this week, claimed the previous Sky Sports activities duo subjected her to sexist provocation over her being pregnant on board a theft for the Champions League ultimate in Istanbul in 2005, an accusation each strenuously deny.
Keys, 65, who in Logan’s personal phrases helped launch his profession within the Nineties, insisted he would take authorized motion. “I did extra for her, early in her profession, than anybody,” he advised Telegraph Sport. “Andy and I have been simple targets. It is simple to choose on us. I do not plan to see her in court docket, however I believe there are issues that may be labored out exterior of that.
Grey added: “I used to be actually disenchanted. My life is right now and tomorrow, not 10 years in the past. Or on this alleged case, 17 years in the past. I wish to transfer on with my life.”
The pair left Sky in 2011 after leaked recordings of presenters making derogatory and sexist remarks about assistant referee Sian Massey, in addition to inappropriate feedback and sexual innuendo to colleagues. Grey was fired following the discharge of video displaying him making inappropriate feedback to presenter Charlotte Jackson. Keys then resigned.
Grey, 66, defined that he was deeply upset by these taking pictures his character from a distance. “I discover it tough when individuals who do not know me have such an awesome view of me,” he says. “I by no means managed to search out myself there. What I am unable to perceive are individuals who have by no means met me, who do not know me or my household.
“I’ve three fucking daughters and am I imagined to be sexist? Come on. I used to be raised by a single mom. Richard used to say to me, ‘Don’t fret, depart them .’ However for some cause, it will get to me. I want I used to be extra like Keysy and stated, “F— y’all.”
In a 2.5-hour lengthy interview, which you’ll be able to learn in full under, the pair supply their ideas on all the things from the state of Sky punditry to their protection of Qatar’s proper to host the World Cup subsequent month. Keys and Grey are adamant that they’ve realized to be extra progressive. “A ladies’s workforce got here to me a number of years in the past, Coventry Sphinx, determined for the package,” Grey stated. “They requested, ‘Do you wish to sponsor us?’ I stated, ‘Yeah, however I do not need Richard Keys there. Put the identify of the native kids’s hospice.
Full interview: ‘You are not going to see anyone setting off fireworks from their a— right here in Qatar, or snorting cocaine. That is a bonus’
From Oliver Brown to Doha
“Ah, it is the Chuckle Brothers!” shouts a voice within the distance. Richard Keys and Andy Grey, posing for images right here on the sunny terrace of the Doha Golf Membership, their treasured sanctuary, circle in bewilderment. It seems to be Ruud Gullit, rushing by on a buggy. They wave, joyful to take the salute from one in every of Holland’s best gamers as a praise. They’ve, in any case, been known as a lot worse.
It is a pristine autumn day in Qatar, the place Keys and Grey have known as residence for the previous 10 years. Throughout us, the frenetic mobilization for subsequent month’s World Cup is getting into its residence stretch. The 18th inexperienced presents a distant glimpse of the shimmering golden trellis surrounding the Lusail stadium, venue for the ultimate. Even this inexperienced oasis will likely be remodeled: in only one week, the membership should someway set up an Enrique Iglesias live performance.
Amid such warp-shifting Keys and Grey are uncommon symbols of consistency, having managed, regardless of all of the howling outrage that sparked their defenestration at Sky, to re-ignite their double act at a Doha studio for an viewers from 23 international locations with beIN Sports activities. They continue to be, even 3,500 miles from their start line, as shut as ever, their on-screen banter nearly reflecting mutual telepathy.
“If I am going to battle, there’s just one man I need subsequent to me: him,” Keys says. “We dwell two buildings aside. Do I get pleasure from his firm? Sure. However it’s not that we’re inseparable. We’re not Eric and Ernie.
“He isn’t going to promote a whole lot of ice cream at this pace,” retorts Grey, taking on Morecambe and Clever’s well-known sketch of an ambulance siren. “At all times one in every of my favorites.”
“I am uninterested in seeing this sexism stuff – it is nonsense”
I meet them each at an ungainly second. Simply once they thought that they had put sufficient of a niche between themselves and their tumultuous fall on British TV, Gabby Logan launched her memoir this month. In these pages, she alleges Keys and Grey subjected her to sexist provocation over her being pregnant on a flight to Istanbul in 2005, a declare each strenuously deny. A fortnight after studying of the accusation, Keys – who, as Logan admits, helped discover his first job at Sky – insists he’s pursuing authorized motion.
“I did extra for her, early in her profession, than anybody else,” he says. “Jason McAteer and I have been simply speaking about this on the golf course. Andy and I have been simple targets. It is simple to choose on us. I do not plan on seeing her in court docket, however I believe there are issues that may be mounted other than that. I am uninterested in seeing this type of factor, it is nonsense.
