Jeremy Kyle reduced Jeremy McConnell to tears today when he appeared on his show to reveal “the truth behind the headlines”.
Last year the Irish model was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Davies, with whom he has a one-year-old son, Caben-Albi.
He served time in prison and hasn’t seen his son in months as a restraining order is in place for three years preventing him from contacting Stephanie, who he met when they both appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.
Jeremy broke down in tears when the host quizzed him on why he hasn’t made more effort to see his child – as he could do so via family mediation despite the restraining order.
“Are you a good father? You haven’t seen your son for eight months,” the presenter asked him.
Jeremy replied with his voice breaking with emotion: “I have been in prison and there has been a restraining order in place so I have to go through official channels. Of course I miss him, I love him to bits.
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He added: “It’s sad I never wanted a broken relationship with Steph. I had my part to play in the relationship which was bad but I am not a bad person.”
The 28-year-old had to be handed a box of tissues as he cried over how much he misses his little boy.
He admitted he’s not proud of his recent behaviour, and said his late parents would be “disgusted” and “ashamed”.
Jeremy Kyle pointed out that Jeremy had not been paid for his appearance on the ITV show, where he told him: “I will be hard and today I am hoping you might show some remorse for what you have done.”
When he asked Jeremy, “are you violent to women?” the reality star at first replied, “I’m not violent to women. It’s just an incident that happened for which I was convicted and I accept the responsibility for that.”
When Jeremy asked him the same question later in the show, Jeremy admitted: “I have been.”
He said he does want to change as appearing on Big Brother made him “cocky”, while the recent loss of his father and his time in prison made him turn to drugs.
Jeremy Kyle sympathised that the CBB star had experienced a great deal of loss – his mother, sister and brother while he was a teenager – and now his dad.
But he told him it’s no excuse for what he’s done.
Jeremy agreed saying: “The relationship (with Steph) wasn’t very healthy. I had infidelity issues when it started off. I cheated on her. I’m not coming on to slag her off, I think everyone is sick of the tit for tat.”
He added: “I’m not trying to give a sob story. I’m just saying there was a part of my life that was a dark patch. The conviction was just and I have done my time. It is horrible to be labelled a wife beater. I am not a scumbag and people call me that. I am trying to be genuine as I can now, I am not an aggressive person.”
He continued to say he knows his “career is over in TV. No one is going to touch me with a barge pole because my name is tarnished.”
Jeremy Kyle told him that should be the least of his worries, and he should instead focus on trying to restore a relationship with his son.
He told him: “Everybody makes mistakes but you have made some of the worst and the most publicised of anyone on this show.
“Where you go from here is about your and your kid. I wouldn’t be thinking my career is tatters, I would be thinking is my chance of being a dad in tatters?
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“Your son wants a dad who will be real, honest and a role model. Can you be one? If you want to turn your life around, you can.”
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