The fiancée of Steve Dymond reveals she has ‘changed her mind about a lot of things’ in the second episode of a documentary series about The Jeremy Kyle Show.
Steve, 63, took his own life a week after filming for the ITV show in 2019. He appeared on the programme to prove he hadn’t cheated on Jane Callaghan but failed a lie detector test.
Early in tonight’s concluding part of the Channel 4 documentary, Jane shows off her Jeremy Kyle tattoo. She also says she feels sympathy for any “backlash” the host received following the cancellation of his daytime series.
But in the documentary’s final scenes, Jane seems to have changed her position as she reflects on tabloid headlines concerning Jeremy Kyle’s anxiety.
Steve Dymond fiancée Jane Callaghan on Jeremy Kyle
Considering the front page of The Sun and a September 2021 interview with the presenter, Jane compares her own circumstances with Jeremy Kyle’s.
“He’s got it all, hasn’t he?” Jane says.
“He’s got a wife, he’s got a kid, a new baby… a nice house, money.
“I know money doesn’t buy everything but it bloody helps. And I’m here, ain’t got a pot to piss in, basically.”
Reading aloud, Jane continues: “‘TV axe left me on anxiety and pills’.”
She reflects: “Yeah, left me on pills as well. Left me with anxiety. I couldn’t leave my house, I was too frightened to leave my house.”
‘I wasn’t sure what was going on’
Jane was reportedly offered £2000 to speak with The Sun following Steve’s death and notes how she and Jeremy were interviewed by the same journalist.
It was suggested to her, reportedly by production staff, that she stay in a hotel at the time. By the time she speaks with documentary makers, she feels that was done to ensure an element of control over what she might say.
“At the time I wasn’t sure what was going on,” Jane says.
“But now, looking back at it, I do think I was rushed away from the house to get away from everyone else. Make sure I don’t say something wrong.”
‘Steve is up there looking down on me’
Jane clarifies she thinks differently to when the interview was done.
“A lot of things have come to light and I have changed my mind a lot about a lot of things,” she adds.
I lost a life. I lost someone I love dearly and I think about about him all the time, every single day.
“All they’ve done [Jeremy Kyle Show production staff] is lose their jobs. I lost a life. I lost someone I love dearly and I think about about him all the time, every single day.”
She goes on to add: “I really do think Steve is up there looking down on me. Feeling what I’m feeling and not liking what’s happening.”
‘A bizarre connection’
However, earlier in the second episode of the documentary, a former producer on The Jeremy Kyle Show indicates a hotel was suggested for Jane to ‘control the situation’.
Contributors are given anonymity in the documentary and their words are voiced by actors. One of the actors claims: “What it really would’ve been was so they could get in her ear.”
Jane is also shown having lots of concern for TV workers affected by the scandal.
“They were all waiting for the decision whether they were going to lose their jobs or not. And I was just so hoping that they weren’t,” she says at this point in the documentary.
“They were talking about taking it off air, [The] Jeremy Kyle [Show]. And I just thought: ‘Why?’ Been on for 15 years and someone commits suicide, [they] take it off air. Everyone loses their job.”
Jane adds: “I do feel sorry for them, losing their jobs. Really, really upset.”
The actor conveying the words of the production staff member claims Jane had a “bizarre connection” with colleagues. They suggest she felt she owed them.
“[Jane] doesn’t see it, she thinks they’re friends,” the actor says.
“She probably needs people.”
Jane’s tattoo of Jeremy Kyle
Jane is also shown proudly revealing an inking on her shoulder of Jeremy Kyle’s autograph.
“I got that done a couple of months after [the show Steve appeared on was recorded],” she says.
Asked why, Jane replies: “I love [Jeremy Kyle]. You know what I mean? I think he’s brilliant, he done a lot.
“I do feel sorry for him for all the backlash he got, saying it is his fault.”
Read more: Jeremy Kyle suffered crippling health battle following suicide of show guest Steve Dymond
And asked whether she might understand that others might find that surprising, Jane responds: “I don’t hate Jeremy Kyle, I don’t hate him. I don’t blame him for it.”
She adds: “I can’t put the blame on somebody when I feel partly a little bit to blame for it, as well.”
The second episode of Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime airs on Channel 4 tonight, Monday March 14, at 9pm. It is also available to view, alongside the first episode, on Channel4.com.
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