A new Jeremy Kyle Show documentary airs this weekend (March 13) examining the impact the divisive show had on British culture.
Once upon a time, TV personality Jeremy Kyle was one of ITV’s biggest stars.
He hosted telly’s most chaotic programme in which warring families slugged it out in front of a ravenous live audience.
Some waited for the results of an all-important DNA test to discover if the child they thought was theirs actually was.
Others went on to check their partner wasn’t cheating with a lie detector test.
And then in 2019, Jeremy’s world came crashing down when a participant on the show – Steve Dymond – took his own life.
Why was The Jeremy Kyle Show cancelled?
Following the news, the show was hastily pulled from schedules. And, after an internal investigation, it was cancelled.
Read more: OPINION: Goodbye Jeremy Kyle – and good riddance!
Now a new Channel 4 documentary, Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime, aims to explore the impact the divisive show had on British culture and the lives of those who appeared on it.
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime will air over two episodes on March 13 and 14 on Channel 4.
The Jeremy Kyle Show was one of ITV’s most popular daytime shows. It was inspired by the confrontational US format made famous by The Jerry Springer Show.
Running across the week, Jeremy would meet families at war, kids or parents seeking long-lost relatives or parents desperate for the results of a DNA test.
In one episode, Jeremy met a man called Steve Dymond. He was on the show to prove that he hadn’t cheated on his girlfriend Jane Callaghan.
What happened to Steve Dymond?
When he failed the lie detector test, the couple split. Steve was found dead 10 days later. The episode never aired.
Jane told The Sun that Steve had been diagnosed with depression. However, he was adamant about appearing on the show to prove his innocence.
“He wanted to go on. He was really excited and confident,” she recalled. “But it was all a front and I knew it. He wasn’t well at all.”
Steve was found dead by his landlady 10 days after his appearance on the show.
He had taken an overdose of morphine that he was prescribed for his painful arthritis.
Just before his death, Steve had texted Jane to tell her that he couldn’t live life without her.
Steve’s death was the latest of a handful of suicides of people who had appeared on reality shows, including Sophie Graden and Mike Thalassitis from Love Island.
They both took their own lives.
What has Jeremy Kyle said about his show being cancelled?
In May 2019, Jeremy finally spoke out about his show being axed.
“Myself and the production team I have worked with for the last 14 years are all utterly devastated by the recent events,” he said.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with Steve’s family and friends at this incredibly sad time.”
Prior to his statement, it was reported that Jeremy had confided in pals that ITV were looking for excuses to ditch the show.
It was claimed the show was felt to be “out of kilter” with the rest of the daytime line up.
What happened to Jeremy after the cancellation of his show?
In an interview with The Sun in 2021, Jeremy revealed that losing the show had left him on pills for crippling anxiety.
“I’m not asking for any sympathy. But being completely honest, yes, it was a very difficult time,” he told the newspaper.
“I was completely devastated at first and then I became completely demotivated. Every ounce of energy seemed to have gone. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the house or even open the curtains.
“Critics will say I got a taste of my own medicine. But I’d been through a fair amount up until that point — and I guess it all caught up with me at once.”
Read more: Jeremy Kyle’s friend Graham Stanier shares unseen wedding pics
He also said he felt like he had been made out to be a scapegoat in the fallout, adding that Dymond’s death “did hit me hard”.
Kyle added that it had been “awful to feel so scapegoated”.
He went on to say that he felt hunted and made out to be responsible for everything that took place around that show when he was only really the face of it.
Jeremy revealed that in the wake of the cancellation of the show, he knew who his true friends were.
While the likes of Rob Rinder, Piers Morgan, Kate Garraway, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford and Declan Donnelly reached out to him to make sure he was alright, many celebrities cut him off.
What happened in the unaired epsiode?
The show featuring Steve Dymond was pulled straight after news of his death and has never been shown on TV.
But during the pre-inquest review into his death, the episode was screened to show the coroner what actually happened during the recording.
According to the Daily Star, the TV host branded Steve Dymond a “serial liar” and asked the jeering audience: “Has anyone got a shovel?”’
Coroner Jason Pegg stated in his ruling made in July 2020: “I have had the opportunity to view The Jeremy Kyle Show episode featuring the deceased.
After the lie detector results the deceased looked visibly upset.
“In that footage, it is apparent that Jeremy Kyle was aware that the deceased had previously been unable to appear on The Jeremy Kyle Show having been diagnosed with depression, for which the deceased had been prescribed anti-depressant medication.
“After the lie detector results the deceased looked visibly upset.
“Jeremy Kyle adopted an approach where he called the deceased a ‘serial liar’. That he ‘would not trust him with a chocolate button’. And made a comment: ‘Has anyone got a shovel?'”
He added that Steve’s son Carl Woolley had said his dad told him “he had been humiliated, taken for a mug and pounced on by the presenter”.
Mr Pegg said Steve phoned his brother, Leslie Dymond, after the show, saying he had “endured a terrible time and could not go on living”.
The coroner went on to say that it was also “apparent” Kyle knew Steve had “previously been diagnosed with depression” and had been taking medication.
He also said he was “satisfied that acts or omissions of Jeremy Kyle may have caused or contributed to the death of Stephen Dymond”.
Did Jeremy Kyle turn down a chance to appear before MPs?
Jeremy had been invited to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee after the death of Dymond.
But chairman Damian Collins later revealed that the TV host had declined the offer.
He told MPs: “We believe that Jeremy Kyle himself should be an important witness to that as the show is based around him as the lead presenter of it.
“We have sent an invitation to Mr Kyle. We have received word back from them that he has declined to appear in front of the committee.”
ITV executives gave evidence on the controversial show instead.
Second death linked to The Jeremy Kyle Show
In February 2020, 31-year-old Natasha Reddican took her own life at her home in Salford, nine months after the show was taken off air.
She had worked on the show for eight years, starting out as a runner and eventually becoming a producer.
Although she wasn’t involved in Steve Dymond’s episode, her boyfriend, a former Jeremy Kyle producer, claimed at the inquest into her death: “When the show was axed, it was something that weighed on her mind because she was heavily involved in the show as a producer.”
Natasha’s stepfather Simon Law was quoted by a Guardian journalist in a piece about the fall of Jeremy Kyle.
He claimed that Natasha had felt let down by ITV after she was made redundant.
Law alleged she found it hard to find work within the media circle because of her association with the show.
“This was a contributing factor that led to her feeling depressed,” he claimed in an email.
What did ITV say about Natasha’s death?
After Natasha’s death, Jeremy said: “I can scarcely believe this tragic news.”
“Tash was such a talented producer. And an extremely popular part of our team.”
ITV said: “As with all other former employees on the show, [Reddican] was offered support and counselling by ITV during the redundancy process.
“ITV also supports The Film and TV Charity. It has been set up to support those working within the industry, particularly freelancers, and helps fund its free, 24/7 support line.”
Another statement added: “ITV takes our duty of care to participants and colleagues very seriously. We regularly review our duty of care processes to ensure they are fit for purpose in an ever-changing world.”
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime documentary on Channel 4
A Channel 4 Dispatches show TV On Trial aired in the wake of Steve Dymond’s death.
It spoke to other people who had appeared on the show who claimed to have attempted suicide.
Reporter Morland Sanders interviewed ex contestants who claimed they were so traumatised after appearing on the show that they took overdoses.
He also spoke to former members of the production team. They claimed to have seen other members of the team encouraging the show’s participants to take drugs and or drink backstage.
An industry producer who made a behind-the-scenes documentary about the show in 2012 told Dispatches he was shocked to see The Jeremy Kyle Show crew giving alcohol to guests.
“When I was filming backstage in the corridor, I would see cans of, lager mainly, going backwards and forwards.
“They were either being passed between researchers and heading to the dressing rooms or coming through on trays.
“I asked who it was going to. They said it was going to the contributors who were appearing on the show,” the source claimed.
They added: “I asked why because I’d never seen alcohol being distributed in this manner on a TV production.
“I was told that the alcohol was for medicinal purposes. That some of the contributors were alcoholics and that the show was allowed to give alcoholics medicinal alcohol.”
Jeremy Kyle lawyers investigate
This weekend, Jeremy confirmed that lawyers were looking into the contents of the documentary.
He said in a brief statement: “I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Mr Dymond.
“I’ve consistently maintained it would be inappropriate to discuss the tragic death of Steve Dymond before the legal inquest into it has concluded.
“Likewise, the false and damaging allegations made against me by Channel 4 are with the lawyers now.
“No doubt ITV will address the issues raised by Channel 4 around ITV’s production of The Jeremy Kyle Show themselves, it would be wrong for me to speak on their behalf.
“Now is not the time to debate or discuss what is an ongoing legal process. When I can respond, I will.”
What did ITV say about drug use and drinking?
At the end of the episode of Dispatches, ITV said: “ITV would never condone illegal drug taking.”
The statement added: “Alcohol is banned in the studio. The only exception is in relation to a small number of guests who are going on to a residential rehabilitation programme after the show.
“In these cases, an appropriate level of alcohol is dispensed by staff professionally qualified in alcohol misuse, purely in order to prevent alcohol withdrawal symptoms.”
What is Jeremy Kyle doing now?
He’s returned to broadcasting.
Jeremy hosts the Drivetime show on talkRADIO airs between Monday and Thursday.
He’s also married for the third time, to his former nanny Vicky Burton.
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death On Daytime will air over two episodes on March 13 and 14 on Channel 4 at 9pm.
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