Rebekah Vardy slams Richard Keys after he shames Jamie for retiring

Rebekah Vardy has hit back at Richard Keys for shaming her husband Jamie, after he announced his retirement from international football on Tuesday.

The Leicester striker cited wanting to spend more time with his family and concentrating on his club career as his reasons for retiring – with commentator Keys taking attacking Jamie for ‘walking out on his country’ in a scathing tweet.

Pointing the finger at Jamie and his fellow retiree, Gary Cahill, Keys ranted: ‘Vardy & Cahill have covered themselves leaving the door open but I will never understand a player walking out on his country.

‘It says a lot about his personality & lack of character. For sure he will let you down badly again later in life.’

Jamie’s devoted wife took took to Twitter to respond to the rancorous tweet, posting: ‘How embarrassing… I think that statement says more about you Richard! Stick to presenting and talking c**p!’

She then tweeted a Daily Mail article, referencing Keys cheating on his wife with his daughter’s best friend, adding: ‘now talk to me about lack of character #k**b.’

Earlier this year, Keys’ jilted wife Julia revealed that her 36-year marriage was let in tatters after discovering her husband was cheating on her with Lucie Jones, 28, their daughter Jemma’s friend. 

Bitter: Pointing the finger at Jamie and his fellow retiree, Gary Cahill, Keys ranted ‘Vardy & Cahill have covered themselves leaving the door open but I will never understand a player walking out on his country’

Hitting back: Jamie’s devoted wife took took to Twitter to respond to the rancorous tweet

Julia, 58, admitted she thought she was losing her mind at the time. She wrote: ‘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.

‘But for a year and a half he was telling me it was all in my head, that I was imagining it, that I was going mad — lines that I now realise nearly every man comes up with when having an affair.’

Adding to the horrendous of the scenario, Julie – a cancer survivor – was nursing her terminally ill mother at the time, as well as dealing with her father’s diagnosis of dementia and Jemma’s battle with alcoholism.

Keys has a checkered past, having resigned from his £500,000-a-year Sky Sports role in 2011 after disparaging female match official Sian Massey-Ellis.

Nasty: ‘It says a lot about his personality & lack of character. For sure he will let you down badly again later in life,’ Keys embittered rage continued

Family man: The 31-year-old has decided he wants to spend more time with his young family (pictured)

He now lives in Doha in Qatar and presents for Al Jazeera alongside fellow former Sky presenter Andy Gray.

Followers rushed to comment on Rebekah’s tweets, posting that they agreed with her, echoing her in shaming Keys for his remarks and his own tainted past.

Rebekah also hit up Instagram, posting the following slogan: ‘You have this one life. How do you wanna spend it? Apologizing? Regretting? Questioning? Hating yourself? Running after people who don’t see you? Be brave. Believe in yourself. Do what feels good. Take risks. You have this one life. Make yourself proud. Love this #morninginspiration #doyou.’

Checkered past: Earlier this year, Keys’ jilted wife Julia [pictured] revealed that her 36-year marriage was let in tatters after discovering her husband was cheating on her with Lucie Jones, 28, their daughter Jemma’s friend

Jamie informed Gareth Southgate of his decision to focus on club football this week, stepping aside to aid Southgate’s plans to usher in a new generation of players.

The 31-year-old has not completely ruled out playing for England again in the event of an injury crisis but believes the time is right to move back from international duty after helping his country to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia.

‘This has been on my mind for a while,’ he told The Guardian. ‘I’m not getting any younger and you can see, to be fair to the gaffer, he wants to make it more youthful, which obviously had its benefits during the World Cup.

‘So I just said to Gareth that I think it’s probably best from now on, especially with the way he wants to go, to bring youngsters in who he thinks have got the ability and start nurturing them into international football.’

The football star rose from non-League football to win the Premier League title and earn 26 England caps, scoring seven goals. He played at Euro 2016 and this summer’s World Cup.

But being behind Harry Kane in Southgate’s line-up and with an eager group of young strikers coming through, he feels Leicester and family should be his priority.

‘When you get selected, you want to be playing. And if it’s not happening, then for me personally now, at this age, it’s better to be at home, spending that time with my family and training with my club, preparing for the next game after the international break,’ Jamie said.

Shamed: Keys now lives in Doha in Qatar and presents for Al Jazeera alongside fellow former Sky presenter Andy Gray

Accomplished: Jamie won 26 caps for the Three Lions, scoring seven goals, and played at the 2018 World Cup

‘I explained it all to Gareth and he was fine with my decision. I mentioned it to him after the World Cup had finished, out in Russia, and then I spoke to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago.

‘He let it die down a bit, so that I could have a bit more time to think, and then rang me up just to make sure I wasn’t just taking the mickey in Russia. But I hadn’t changed my mind.

‘Gareth said that he felt I still had a lot to offer, and we’ve not shut the door completely. If the worst came to happen and everyone was injured, then obviously I wouldn’t say no.’ 

He did admit to an element of frustration at only getting on for the final eight minutes of extra-time against Croatia in the semi-final.

‘I thought I could have helped a bit more if I had more minutes,’ he added. ‘You know that you can hurt opponents in certain ways, in the way you play. But it wasn’t to be. And you have to respect the manager’s decisions.’ 

Retiring: ‘Gareth (Southgate) said that he felt I still had a lot to offer,’ the Leicester forward revealed