I know ‘real reason’ The Jeremy Kyle Show will NEVER return says host – after ITV series cleared of suicide link
FROM exposing lovers who were brothers to grooms who cheated on their wedding day, The Jeremy Kyle Show was famed for giving guests the ugly truth.
But 20 years on from its launch, host Jezza says the talk show could never exist today – because people are offended by honesty.
The ITV series was axed in 2019 after 3,320 episodes across 17 series following the suicide of a Steve Dymond who failed a lie detector test on the show a week before his death.
Returning to the channel for his first interview since a coroner cleared the show of any wrongdoing, Jeremy insists the programme’s volatile nature, which encouraged conflicts and confrontations for entertainment, is a thing of the past now the world has changed so dramatically.
In the new series launch of Kate Garraway’s Life Stories set to air on Tuesday, Jeremy said: “There’s that great line, ‘do you want me to lie or do you want me to be honest’ and all the producers would say ‘oh god he’s going to tell the truth again’ but that was what people at that time craved.
“We live in a world now where people aren’t honest, are they?
“They’re too busy worrying about what kind of response they’re going to get.”
Viewers were used to onstage brawls on The Jeremy Kyle Show as guests rowed over family and romantic relationships, sex and addiction.
But in 2015 an episode was pulled over “violent content” – and it was never aired on TV.
Jeremy has always defended the programme against critics who dubbed it “poverty porn” and “classist television” — mocking struggling working-class people.
The presenter said of The Jeremy Kyle Show: “It was a juggernaut. You would look at it now and think it’s a bygone era.
“We launched in 2005, that was just before the advent of social media and I think that changed everything.
“And people… Would they watch it because it would help them? They’d feel better about their own lives?
“Many people were invested in it. The world has changed dramatically – you can’t say boo to a goose now, can you?
“Understandably, shows like that have gone by the by.
“But I’m immensely proud of those numbers of episodes, taking it to America and the people that we genuinely helped.
“Listen, 15 years is a long time.”
Jeremy told Kate “it’s good to be back” as he returned to the channel that gave him the boot in 2019 for an hour-long emotional interview.
The TalkRadio star went through “five years of hell” after being sacked as the inquest into Dymond’s death hung over him.
After attending the inquest in person where a coroner judged there was no direct link between the show and the suicide, a vindicated Jeremy said “my name has finally been cleared”.
Construction worker Steve appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show in a bid to win back his ex-fiancée Jane Callaghan after she suspected him of cheating on her.
He denied being unfaithful, but failed a lie detector test. The footage was never broadcast.
Steve, who had a history of mental health issues and previously tried to take his own life on four occasions, overdosed seven days later.
Jeremy will say on Tuesday’s episode: “I understand entirely that the Kyle Show had to fall on its sword as a result of that.
“You can be the king of the castle one day and the next day not allowed in the castle grounds.”
Jeremy, 59, has spoken previously about the mental and physical toll that led him to take antidepressant Citalopram in the wake of the tragedy.
Three years later he joined News UK’s as a TalkRadio host and has since become a dad of six.
His youngest daughter Iris is his second child with wife Vicky, 40, having welcomed their first baby, Oliver, together in 2020.
Jeremy is also a dad to 32-year-old Harriet from his first marriage and has three teenagers, Alice, 18, Ava, 17, and son Henry, 13, from his second.
However, despite finally being back on his feet, Jeremy ended up flat on his face after tripping up on stage as he walked out in front of a live studio audience.
True to form, the legendary broadcaster picked himself up and carried on – similar to how he had to recover from being “cancelled” over his talk show controversy.
Despite re-filming the opening scene, ever-honest Jeremy told viewers about the embarrassing incident – describing himself as “clumsy and idiotic”.
His slip up will play out during the episode, as well as Jeremy opening up about his emotional health battle the first time, admitting he feared he was going to die.
“I remember waking up to this incredible nurse who stayed with me all night and held my hand,” said Jeremy, who previously overcame testicular cancer.
“It was terrifying, I thought I was dead.”