Jeremy Kyle branded ‘bully’ and ‘cult leader’ in new bombshell Channel 4 documentary

Jeremy Kyle has been labelled a ‘bully’ and “cult leader personality” in a new Channel 4 documentary.

The explosive two-part series, called Jeremy Kyle: Death On Daytime, is set to air to Channel 4 at 9pm on Sunday (March 13).

The shocking doc follows the downfall of Jeremy Kyle’s controversial daytime chat show, which was axed after 14 years in 2019.

Kyle’s chat show was cancelled following the tragic death of ex-guest Steve Dymond, who took his own life after failing a lie detector test on the ITV show.

In the documentary, former guests and anonymised ex-employees make claims about their experiences of working and appearing on the show.

At the start of the first documentary, Kyle is described as a “cult leader personality”, and later on it’s claimed he “bullied” a former show guest, Kristie Bishop.

One ex-employee claimed they were drawn to Jeremy’s ‘cult-like’ persona at first.

An employee claimed: “I was a massive Jeremy Kyle fan. I never missed an episode and he just had this overwhelming charisma. It was tough love. It wasn’t fake love.

“I thought Jeremy was giving. He had that like cult leader personality that I was just drawn to.”

Dominique Bishop, the mother of late ex-guest Kristie, broke down in tears in the doc as she opened up about her daughter’s stint on the show – before Kristie died of a drug overdose.

Kristie went on the show in 2018 in a bid to get help for her severe heroine addiction, and she returned to the show in 2019 before she passed away in March 2020 after relapsing.

Mum Dominique, 54, alleged her daughter had opened up to the daytime host, but he “bullied her” and put on a show.

She said: “She opened herself up and he bullied her and he put on a show. But that was my daughter and that’s really, really hard to watch now.”

She also described her daughter’s ordeal as “the most traumatic experience I ever had”.

Through the show, Kristie was sent on a 12-week rehab programme with the Perry Clayman project which originally aimed to tackle her addiction.

In March 2020, following a relapse, Kristie was found at her home in Luton, Bedfordshire, and died in hospital the following day.

Later on in the documentary, ex-workers, including producers responsible for booking guests on the show, claim Jeremy was “incredibly nasty and demeaning” on set.

They also alleged they would ‘never leave their desks’ and would have to work gruelling 14-15 hour days in a desperate bid to book guests onto the programme.

One said producers weren’t allowed to eat until they booked guests onto the show, as there was so much pressure to secure TV interviewees.

Reacting to the documentary, an ITV statement read: “The Jeremy Kyle Show was broadcast for 14 years. In that time, more than 20,000 people took part in the show seeking help to resolve relationship issues, or to address drug or alcohol related problems. The central purpose of the show was conflict resolution, and the show achieved many positive outcomes where people were able to resolve personal problems.

“The Jeremy Kyle Show had extensive and detailed duty of care processes in place for contributors built up over 14 years. It had a dedicated guest welfare team of mental healthcare professionals with decades of experience in NHS mental healthcare, who were focused on the welfare of guests throughout the production process.

“Guests were supported by the programme and welfare teams prior to filming, throughout filming and after filming. Should they require ongoing help then appropriate solutions were found for them, which could include residential rehabilitation, counselling, anger management, family mediation, child access mediation or couples counselling.

“Due to the gravity of events in May 2019, namely the death of a guest a few days after taking part in the show, ITV decided to end production of the show. It would not be appropriate for ITV to comment further on that in advance of the inquest to be held later this month.

“ITV does not accept the central allegation of this programme of a “bad culture” within the production team. ITV would never condone any of its production staff misleading or lying to guests.

“All guests on the Jeremy Kyle Show were aware of the nature of the show and the presenter’s style before taking part in recording. Most of those who applied to appear watched the show themselves. All guests gave their informed consent, in writing, to take part. Since 2018, ITV had taken significant steps in relation to its duty of care of participants. ITV issued detailed new guidance to all its producers on protecting participants in October 2019…”

Daily Star have contacted Jeremy Kyle’s representatives for comment.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk