A London telephone box, a Union Jack mirror and a model of the Titanic – who lives in a house like this? Readers, it’s over to you as we go through the Keys hole.
As you may or may not have guessed these are all items in former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys’ Middle East home.
The man who fronted Sky’s coverage of the Premier League for almost two decades set off for a new chapter with Andy Gray in Qatar working for beIN Sports in Doha after he quit the UK sports giant in the wake of their now notorious sexist behaviour.
TV presenter Richard Keys let the TV cameras into his Doha home to show them around
Keys shows fellow BeIn Sports presenter Nicky Crosby round his home in the Middle East
And the TV anchor opened his doors to let the cameras in to show off his home away from home in the capital of Qatar in something reminiscent of MTV’s Cribs series.
As Keys welcomes TV presenter Nicky Crosby and the cameras into his home, she describes him as ‘The king of beIN Sports.’ To which he replies: ‘You say the king of beIN Sports, let’s stop right there because Andy is not here. The king’s assistant, I think would be fair to say.’
Keys admits straight away that he does not own the property, saying: ‘I would like to say that it is impressive because I own it, but I don’t.’
And the first thing we see is a scaled down red British telephone box and a large Union Jack mirror to remind him of life back in England.
As you walk into Keys' rented home you see his home comforts - a red London telephone box and a giant Union Jack mirror in the living room
Keys admits the telephone box is not big enough to fit in - but was bought to remind him of England
Keys says the reminders of England are not so important now he has been in Doha for two years
He said: ‘Just to remind me every now and again that home is really elsewhere. Or is it here now? I don’t know. When we came it was comforting, we have been here two years now, so it is not quite so important.’
Next stop in the living room is a large model of the Titanic, the impressive passenger liner that sank on its maiden voyage between Southampton and New York in September 1912. And Keys admits he is fascinated by the story of the ship
He added: ‘My wife bought me Titanic. I have a fixation, I always have had, with the story of the Titanic. It is a fascinating tale.’
As the TV presenter shows the cameras round his home, evidence that he is an animal lover is apparent as viewers are introduced to his two dogs, Bobby and Alf.
Keys has a model of the Titanic in his living room and says he is fascinated by its tale
A Grand Piano shipped all the way from England sits in his living room - but the TV presenter says he doesn't play it
Keys is an animal lover and has a custom iPad cover with a picture of him with one of his dogs
Being on the television presenting football may not leave Keys much time to relax in front of the box – but when he does, he makes sure it is in front of a state of the art screen.
He added: ‘If you are going to watch football then you need a television of some magnitude, so I treated myself when we came and bought myself a proper television.’
A cat called Millie lies asleep underneath a coffee table and the 58-year-old reveals he found her in a dustbin in Doha.
Keys disappeared off our TV screens in 2011 after resigning in wake sexist behaviour following his partner and friend Gray being sacked.
Keys shows off his huge TV screen which he likes to watch football on - when he is not presenting
Keys says he bought himself the television as a present to himself when he moved out to Doha
Offensive comments made off air about referee’s assistant Sian Massey were leaked along with footage of remarks made to Sky presenter Charlotte Jackson lead to Gray’s sacking and Keys’ resignation.
Now heading up the coverage of the Premier League and Champions League on Middle Eastern network beIN Sports, Keys and Gray have swapped the sexism storm for the sun of Qatar.
Moving into the kitchen, Keys reveals the contents of his fridge, he added: ‘Diet Coke, a little fruit, eggs, a lot of yoghurt, dog food as well. There is not much in there to do you damage.’
Asked if he cooks, he replies: ‘Yes, if I have to.’
Keys says he is happy as long as he has his golf clubs and laptop
Keys shows off his suits to the camera and explains how he picks which one to wear
Keys shows off his colourful array of ties that he likes to wear when on screen
Up in his office, Keys reveals that he is a man of simple pleasures: ‘There is not much in my life other than a set of golf sticks and a laptop that is very necessary.’
And when asked if his home was on fire the one thing he would save, he replies simply: ‘Myself.’
Keys moves into the bedroom to show off his cupboards that are full of suits and shirts and explains how he picks which one to wear.
He said: ‘On a Saturday I will tend to wear light, when it is daylight I will tend to wear light (suit) and Sunday, slightly darker because we are working through both (day and night).’
Keys takes the cameras into his bedroom and is quick to point out that Andy Gray does not sleep there
Keys shows off his swimming pool but says it can be too hot to sit outside at times
The presenter then shows off a colourful array of ties that he wears on screen.
In his bedroom, there is a grand bed and Keys is quick to make the point that: ‘Andy Gray does not sleep there, but Bob, and Alf and Millie do.’
Taking the tour outside, Keys shows off his swimming pool, but admits the weather does play its part out in Doha.
He added: ‘Too hot to do anything with at the moment and unless you are in there (the pool) you can’t sit out here.
‘The beauty of living in this part of the world is that you can plan, you can have a BBQ, and you can have a day in the garden. It is definitely not going to rain like it would in England.’
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