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Sexism Row

They're back: Gray and Keys pen new Talk Sport deal

Irish station who head-hunted Andy Gray unsure if they remain in race to sign former Sky Sports football pundit.

FORMER SKY SPORTS presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray have agreed a new deal with TalkSport radio station.

The pair will present a flagship three-hour weekday show between 10am and 1pm, beginning on Monday, according to the Guardian. The paper reports that Talk Sport ‘moved in for the pair’ a fortnight after the scandal erupted.

Keys appeared on the station after damaging studio conversations between the pair were leaked last month. He is now looking forward to a fresh beginning, saying it is the “start of something new and very exciting for Andy and myself”. He added:

We are delighted to be joining the TalkSport family and can’t wait to get started.

TalkSport programme director, Moz Dee, described the signing as a “sensational coup” for the station. ”The events of the last couple of weeks have been a lesson and has changed them,” said Dee.

Gray said: “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be joining TalkSport. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Richard and I to do what we do best and that’s talk about sport.”

Beat?

The Irish radio station that said it was in talks with Gray last week now seem to be in a tough battle to secure the Scot’s signature.

Beat 102-103 chiefs were in discussions with the TV personality’s representatives, they told The Score on Friday.

The Waterford-based radio station hoped to offer Gray a route back to the airwaves with a weekly programme. They planned a Sunday evening broadcast with Gray contributing through an ISDN line from London.

“We’re currently talking to Andy’s management and we’re pretty hopeful that we can work something out,” said Martin Clancy, the station’s sport editor.

Clancy had said he doesn’t envisage any controversy if the appointment of Gray is made. “He’d be in London so there wouldn’t be any problems if our female members of staff had any issue with it,” he said.

Today, Clancy said he could offer no update on the situation and other station bosses are yet to respond this afternoon.

Return

Keys and Gray were the long-serving faces of Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage until the sexism row that engulfed both them and the broadcaster after they were recorded suggesting that female officials “don’t know the offside rule”.

Another clip emerged of Keys discussing a former girlfriend of Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp.

Later another damaging pitch-side conversation about the ref, between reporter Andy Burton and Gray, appeared online.

Gray was ultimately sacked when a clip showing him asking Charlotte Jackson to tuck something into his trousers was leaked.

Read: Is Andy Gray a modern-day philosopher | Listen to the entire Talk Sport interview with Richard Keys| Sky presenter on the brink | Take a bow son, Andy Gray sacked by station

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