Jeremy Kyle attended an inquest into the death of one of his TV guests who is believed to have taken his own life after appearing on the show.
The 63-year-old was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in May 2019, just seven days after being accused of cheating on his partner on the Jeremy Kyle Show.
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During the unaired episode, Steve Dymond failed a lie detector test he’d asked the show to perform to prove he wasn’t cheating on his partner. The inquest was the only time the episode had been aired publicly.
On Thursday (September 5), Jeremy came to speak in court after his family believed Jeremy’s show should take some accountability.
Steve’s last text message
Maya Sikand KC who was representing Mr Dymond’s family at the inquest read Mr Dymond’s last known message to his partner Jane Callaghan before his death.
The message read: “I hope the Jeremy Kyle show is so happy now about what they have done to me… I did lie about my past, but I never cheated… never, never, never did I cheat on you.”
Passing the baton
(Image: PA)
When asked what his response was to Mr Dymond’s claim that the Jeremy Kyle Show was “responsible” for his death, the former ITV host passed on the baton of responsibility.
Mr Kyle said: “I say that I know there was an oil tanker of text messages and WhatsApps… there’s not one that complains about my behaviour. I did not create the show, I was the presenter.”
He also added later on: “The production, the producing, the aftercare, the lie detector test were not my responsibility, I was the presenter.”
Never chose the guests
(Image: PA)
The presenter also wanted to note that he was “not involved in the selection of guests” throughout the entire run of the show. The broadcaster said: “I want to make a point, I have in my 14-and-a-half years not been involved in the selection of guests. I was employed absolutely as the presenter.”
He claimed he was only sent information about the guests the night before filming so he could learn the details of each other cases, which would involve around 20 guests in a day’s recording.
He said: “I had no involvement in the process of selection or anything like that.”
Denying accusations
(Image: PA)
Counsel to the inquest, Rachel Spearing, asked the ITV star if he thinks he had humiliated the guest on the show, but Jeremy denied this.
She asked Mr Kyle: “Do you believe he was humiliated?” He replied: “I do not and I have read over time apparently I called him a traitor, I didn’t, that he was cowering, I did what I always do and always did, it was what the show as I understood the show is, sad as it might sound, it was a typical part.”
He continued to deny humiliating Steve, despite the fact he was also heard telling Steve to “grow a pair of balls and tell her the God-damn truth”.
Character claims
(Image: PA)
The broadcaster alleged he had created a persona for the long-running controversial series and had not been professionally trained in handling his guests’ emotional.
He said: “The show developed, it was a character, a part, by understanding that from day one as I keep saying, it’s conflict resolution so it involved many aspects of many stories and many different approaches.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
