Broadcaster under pressure to drop show after death of guest who failed lie detector test

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Jeremy Kyle’s programme was taken off air to “protect the show” from adverse reaction, ITV’s chief executive has said as the broadcaster faced pressure from MPs to drop the programme permanently following the death of a guest who failed a lie-detector test.

ITV suspended the show indefinitely after a guest, named as 63-year-old Steve Dymond from Portsmouth, died a week after filming. Hampshire police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

ITV’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, told staff in an internal email that the decision to halt production was “not in any way a reflection on the show”. She said it was the “best way we think we can protect the show and the production team from the reaction we expect to this death”.

McCall said the programme’s production team would be offered counselling.

Dymond took a lie detector test to convince his fiancee, Jane Callaghan, that he had not been unfaithful. They split after it concluded he was lying.

ITV said its staff and the show’s production team were “shocked and saddened” at his death and the programme’s production would be reviewed.

The Conservative MP Charles Walker, a vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention, called for the show to be pulled.

He said: “The Jeremy Kyle Show has run its course. It ran its course a long time ago. As it is Mental Health Awareness Week, the best thing ITV can do is announce it is no longer commissioning the show.”

Walker described it as “an unattractive form of television, based on the bullying of the weak and vulnerable”. He said the show’s format was “not compatible with a responsible society and a responsible broadcaster”.

He added: “I do think the Jeremy Kyle Show and those involved will feel a sense of responsibility and a sense of grief, clearly not on the same scale as this man’s family. As human beings with their own family, perhaps now they will decide this too can’t continue.”.

Damian Collins, the chair of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, said TV companies “have a duty to care for the people who take part in their programmes”. The Conservative MP Simon Hart, who also sits on the committee, described the show as “car-crash TV which revels in people’s terrible misfortune and sometimes their vulnerabilities”.

Play Video 1:49 Jeremy Kyle Show suspended after guest's death – video report

Honey Langcaster-James, a TV psychologist who has worked on ITV shows including Love Island, said: “I think that the format of the Jeremy Kyle Show is one that we could and should be moving away from. It is possible to make entertaining TV that does not revolve around the potential humiliation of guests who are suffering from a variety of difficulties, such as addiction.”

Jo Hemmings, a behavioural psychologist who has worked for shows including Big Brother, said it was time for ITV to decommission the programme. “It’s an archaic kind of show. It probably was when it was first commissioned, but now it seems very out of step with our attitude with mental health issues.”

Callaghan said Dymond had been “quietly struggling”, but she praised the show’s team for their after-care efforts. She told the Sun: “They were brilliant. They were there when he needed help. They were really persistent in offering him help.”

Callaghan said that shortly before they went on the show, Dymond convinced her he had not cheated, but the pair split up following the test.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that we were called at 1.24pm on Thursday 9 May following the discovery of a body of a man in his 60s at an address in Grafton St, Portsmouth. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner.”

Timeline Jeremy Kyle show controversies Show Hide The first episode of the Jeremy Kyle show is broadcast on ITV The show is nominated for a National Television Award in the most popular factual programme category. A man appears in court after head-butting a love rival while appearing on the show. During the trial the judge described the show as a form of 'human bear-baiting'. The show is criticised by Ofcom after it broadcasts a guest saying the 'clearly audible' word 'cunts' in the direction of the audience before the watershed. ITV said 'the word was not edited out due to human error since it was not heard over noise from the audience and the theme music.' A 26 year old man is jailed at Peterborough Crown Court for grievous bodily harm. He assaulted his 23 year old female partner after they had appeared on the show together regarding infidelity. The show's producers 'absolutely refute' the judge's claim that the show exploits 'the foolish and gullible'. The 1,000th episode of the show is a Coronation Street special, with actors from ITV's flagship soap taking part in the show in character. Kyle attempts to export the format to the US, but the American version is cancelled the following year An episode is broadcast that Ofcom subsequently finds has breached the broadcasting code for not providing enough information to viewers to 'assist in avoiding or minimising offence'. During the episode a 17 year old girl was called 'a silly anorexic slapper' and a 'crackhead' by her elder sister. On Easter Sunday morning the show broadcasts an episode subsequently deemed to have breached broadcasting rules with offensive language, aggressive confrontations and sexual references. Kyle is knocked over by a guest as a brawl erupts during a sequence entitled 'I'll prove we're not sisters - can you prove you're not on drugs?' The show is suspended after it emerges that a guest has died shortly after appearing on the show. All past episodes of the programme are removed from the ITV Hub catch-up service, and repeats are ended on other channels. ITV announces that the show is to be taken off air permanently. MPs on the Commons culture select committee condemn the show as a forum for tearing people apart in a 'Roman Colosseum-type way'. Kyle himself declines to appear before the MPs, although executive producer Tom McLennan does.

ITV did not show Monday morning’s episode and has wiped all previous episodes from its on-demand service, ITV Hub. They will also not be shown on ITV2.

In the talkshow, which has had a regular daytime morning slot on ITV since 2005, host Kyle and psychotherapist Graham Stanier help the guests talk through their personal issues in front of a studio audience.

• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.