Steve Dymond, a 63-year-old man from Portsmouth, died from an overdose just days after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show in May 2019.
At an inquest into his death, his son, Carl Woolley, revealed details about how the host, Jeremy Kyle, allegedly provoked the audience to heckle his father, leading to severe emotional distress.
The Jeremy Kyle Show guest Steve Dymond
Steve Dymond voluntarily took a lie detector test to prove he didn’t cheat on his ex-partner, Jane Callaghan. However, the results came back claiming he had been unfaithful.
According to Carl Woolley, his father vehemently denied these accusations. “He was very upset, telling me everyone had jumped on him… (he was) not with it at all,” Mr Woolley recounted during the inquest.
The emotional turmoil intensified when Jeremy Kyle allegedly stirred the audience to ‘boo’ at Mr Dymond.
When asked by counsel to the inquest Rachel Spearing who had “jumped on him”, Mr Woolley replied: “Jeremy Kyle had got the crowd to egg on, to boo at him and stuff, he was cast as the liar before he had even spoken.”
However, a rep for Jeremy told us: “No Jeremy did not ask anyone to boo. It is not true and that will be proved in the next 2 days in court.”
Post-show, Mr Woolley said his father was “very down”. He reportedly called his son multiple times a day.
“He was OK at some points, but very down,” his son recalled.
Despite the aftercare support from ITV, which Carl encouraged his father to continue, the psychological damage had been severe.
In a note left by Mr Dymond for his son, he continued to maintain his innocence. “I never ever cheated on Jane and that is what is tearing me to pieces and everyone thinks I am but I’m not a cheat,” he wrote.
Jane Callaghan also gave her evidence, where she stated that the couple broke up after she found he had “lied a lot about his past”.
She described Mr Dymond as “very upset” following their breakup. On February 16, 2019, Mr Dymond sent a message to Jane stating that he “hates himself so much”.
Steve Dymond death
Leslie Dymond shared that post-show his brother appeared “very distressed and consumed” by the incident.
“He repeated that he had the result of a lie detector test, which he did not agree with, pushed in his face, and (was) called a traitor, with the presenter and audience all heckling him,” he said.
“Stephen told me he had been at the point of collapsing at the studio but he was still heckled.”
He also alleged that Jeremy called Mr Dymond a “failure” and that he became “followed” by cameras and microphones even after he left the stage.
Meanwhile, the inquest also painted a picture of Mr Dymond’s earlier life. This included his brave service as an RNLI crew member.
Mr Dymond’s death raises critical questions about the psychological impact of reality television.
The inquest is not attempting to assign blame, but to shed light on the circumstances that led to such a tragic outcome.
Read more: Jeremy Kyle hits back at claims he’s ‘too old’ to have more babies as he addresses expanding brood
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.