Jeremy Kyle Show staff say they ‘weren’t allowed to eat until they booked guests’

Former Jeremy Kyle Show workers have claimed they ‘weren’t allowed to eat’ until they booked guests on the disgraced ITV show.

It comes in an explosive new two-part Channel 4 documentary, called Jeremy Kyle: Death On Daytime, which is set to air at 9pm on Sunday (March 13).

The bombshell series makes claims about the controversial daytime show, which was cancelled in 2019 after 14 years on air.

The show was axed following the tragic death of ex-guest Steve Dymond, who took his own life after failing a lie detector test on the show.

The bombshell doc features interviews with previous show guests and former workers who make claims about their experience on the programme.

In the documentary, former staff claimed they “exploited”, “used” and “manipulated” during their time on the programme.

The two ex-workers, which included producers responsible for booking guests onto the show, had their identities protected by actors as they slammed the show in the documentary.

One ex-worker claimed “everybody was exploited without knowing it”, explaining if you didn’t go along with the way show bosses wanted to do things, they would be sacked from their jobs.

Apparently, stressed staff would ‘never leave their desks’ and would end up working gruelling 14-15 hour days as they desperately tried to book guests onto the programme.

One of the employees even claimed producers weren’t allowed to eat until they booked guests onto the show, meaning they were left starving.

The former staff also claimed they ‘weren’t equipped’ to deal with guests’ mental health issues, and allege they were forced to lie during mental health checks on guests in a bid to ensure they could book them for the show.

Despite the hit reality show hosting a whopping 20,000 guests during its time on ITV, a producer claimed it was difficult to sign up guests.

One ex employee claimed it was a such a challenge, they’d “badger” guests over the phone and even pretend there was a large waiting list to make it seem like a spot on the show was hotly-contested.

The Death On Daytime doc includes interviews with Steve Dymond’s ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan, ex-guest Dominique Bishop, the mum of Kristie who lost her battle with drugs after appearing on the show to help her heroin addiction.

It also features unreleased footage of Jeremy on set, and heartfelt audio recordings of Steve declaring his love to Jane.

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