Love Island WILL return to screens this summer after viewers accused ITV of ‘hypocrisy’ for permanently cancelling The Jeremy Kyle Show
- ITV announced The Jeremy Kyle Show had been axed permanently on Wednesday
- The show was taken off air after guest Steven Dymond, 63, was found dead
- Steven was found dead on May 9 following his appearance on May 2
- Viewers urged Love Island to be culled after the deaths of Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon
- Fans of Jeremy Kyle accused ITV of ‘hypocrisy’ for renewing the show
- The dating programme is set to return on June 3 for its fifth series
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or see samaritans.org for details
Love Island WILL return this summer, despite viewers accusing ITV of ‘hypocrisy’ for permanently cancelling the Jeremy Kyle show.
A spokesperson for ITV confirmed to MailOnline on Wednesday, that the show would be returning in the summer.
Earlier this year the channel outlined the extensive duty of care processes in place for contributors past and present.
Returning: Love Island WILL return to television screens this summer after viewers accused ITV of ‘hypocrisy’ for permanently cancelling The Jeremy Kyle Show (pictured: Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham who won the 2018 show)
The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed permanently on Wednesday after guest Steven Dymond, 63, was found dead a week after appearing on the programme.
Fans of the morning talk show have criticised the broadcaster for double standards, with money-spinning dating series Love Island remaining on air in spite of the suicides of former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon.
The end of the programme has led for renewed calls for Love Island to be culled after Mike, 26, and Sophie, 32, both took their own lives.
Backlash: Fans of the Jeremy Kyle show have hit out at ITV, accusing them of hypocrisy for failing to axe Love Island after the deaths of Mike Thalassitis (pictured in 2017) and Sophie Gradon
Views: The end of Jeremy Kyle has led for renewed calls for Love Island to be culled after Mike, 26, and Sophie, 32, (pictured 2016) both took their own lives
Culled: On Wednesday, ITV announced The Jeremy Kyle Show, which had been on air since 2005, was axed permanently
Jeremy Kyle guest Steven died in a suspected suicide a week after appearing on the show with his on-and-off girlfriend Jane Callaghan.
He is said to have been left devastated and feeling suicidal after being confronted about allegations of infidelity and was asked to sit a lie detector test. According to friends, he was labelled a liar after he failed the test.
In a dramatic move, ITV halted the scheduled broadcast, suspended filming of the show and removed all past episodes from its catch-up website.
MPs called for the show to be scrapped because it exploited vulnerable people.
On Wednesday, ITV announced the programme, which had been on air since 2005, was axed permanently.
ITV chief Carolyn McCall admitted it was ‘the right time for the show to end’.
She said: ‘Given the gravity of recent events we have decided to end production of The Jeremy Kyle Show.
‘The Jeremy Kyle Show has had a loyal audience and has been made by a dedicated production team for 14 years, but now is the right time for the show to end.’
Following the news, Jeremy Kyle fans have called out ITV for pulling the show, while ‘cash cow’ Love Island, which is set to return on June 3, continues despite the deaths of Mike and Sophie.
Television personality Nicola McLean believes the host of the daytime show is being made a scapegoat.
Speaking on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine on Wednesday, she said: ‘I do think JK is being victimised. Why is it only his show being pulled off the air?
Awful: Jeremy Kyle guest Steven died in a suspected suicide a week after appearing on the show with his on-and-off girlfriend Jane Callaghan
‘He’s done a lot of good and I think he’s been wrongly victimised. I think it’s a very bizarre.
‘Love Island is coming on very soon, the show that’s making the most money for ITV brand and I think this is a mask so we don’t have to ban Love Island. ‘Let’s get Jeremy Kyle so we don’t have to get that.’
Asked if she thinks The Jeremy Kyle Show should be axed, she said: ‘I don’t care about the show, I care about just, and if he’s getting cancelled, so should Love Island.’
Fellow guest Calum Best also feels the presenter has been unfairly targeted and suggested much of the blame should lie with the age of social media.
Hypocrisy: Television personality Nicola McLean believes the host of the daytime show is being made a scapegoat and thinks Love Island should be pulled off air
He said: ‘I know Jeremy and I don’t think he should be targeted, maybe the show as a whole because of what it does and how it makes people feel.
‘You get something like ‘Love Island’, obviously it’s really sad someone took their own life, that is tragic.
‘Overall I look at it like social media has a huge part to play. Reality shows can be great, a great opportunity but the downside is if you don’t have a thick skin – and you shouldn’t have to – having people tell you so instantly their thoughts and opinions on you, it can affect people who don’t know how to deal with it.’
Tragedy: Sophie was found hanged in her home in Ponteland, Northumberland in June last year by her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong who later took who is own life
LOVE ISLAND STATEMENT IN FULL
Everyone at Love Island is so shocked and absolutely devastated with the tragic news of Mike Thalassitis.
The Mike we knew was a remarkable and charismatic young man who made a huge impression both on the Love Island team and on viewers of the show. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family and friends at this difficult time.
When something so awful happens it is natural to enter a period of soul searching and ask whether anything could have been done to help avoid something so terrible happening. It is not for us to speculate on the reasons behind this tragedy and what is so heartbreaking is that we simply cannot know.
Our show put Mike in the spotlight with all the ups and downs that brings. Mike’s TV career took off with Love Island and he went on to take part in other reality shows as his career grew.
Since the terrible news there have been a lot of people questioning Love Island’s processes and aftercare. Many of the things that have been said about them bear no relation to the support we offer. We want to outline our care processes.
As the show has grown ever more popular and our Islanders get increased attention in an ever changing landscape, each series we evolve the support we give them.
Our duty of care is a continuous and ongoing process for each Islander. This follows three key stages; pre-filming, filming, and aftercare. We work with both an independent GP and a psychological consultant to provide an assessment of the physical and mental health of each of the shortlisted cast members and their suitability for inclusion on the programme.
The medical team also contacts each Islander’s GP to check they feel that person is able to take part. We ask for full disclosure from potential cast members to these health professionals so that so that we can support them appropriately. As TV producers, we rely on medical experts to assess both mental and physical health to ensure that each candidate is suitable for inclusion.
Care continues whilst the Islanders are in the villa. We have a medical team on location which includes a psychological consultant. They not only look after Islanders’ healthcare needs, but also monitor them to check that there are no emerging signs of any problems developing whilst they are in the villa. Additionally, several of our senior team, who monitor the cast around the clock, have been trained in mental health first aid.
When the time comes for each Islander to leave the show, our aftercare process kicks in. Every Islander has a series of debrief meetings on location with the executive team and the medical team, including the psychological consultant. After this, they are told how to access after care support as well as information on seeking professional representation. They also meet with the press team the day after leaving the villa and are briefed and advised on their press coverage whilst in the villa.
We have had requests for help from former Islanders, and have provided this.
We have always recognised that this should be an evolving process and six months ago we engaged Dr Paul Litchfield, an experienced physician and a Chief Medical Officer, to independently review our medical processes on Love Island. He has extensive experience of working with large companies and Government in the area of mental health.
This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us. And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management.
The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis.
Having said all of this about Love Island we must not lose sight of the wider issue which is the importance of the conversation on mental health. Across ITV we have worked with a number of charities including CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) on Project 84 and with Samaritans and CALM on Coronation Street, tackling the issue of male suicide.
Conversations about mental health have never been more important.
Meanwhile on Twitter, Katie Hopkins gained 14,000 likes with her tweet: ‘Jeremy Kyle Show, 3320 episodes. 16 series. 1 death – suspected suicide.
‘ITV pull show. Mass hysteria. The mob mobilises.
‘Love Island, 148 episodes. 4 series. 2 deaths – suspected suicide.
‘ITV celebrate success. Most watched non-terrestrial program. 2019 promo underway.’
Another typed: ‘Jeremy Kyle Show has been taken off air after one death in 14 years. In 3 weeks #LoveIsland comes back on air after 2 deaths in just 4 seasons. Both shows are on ITV but it seems treated differently, probably as one makes far more cash for the station than the other.
A third added: ‘As much as I enjoy love island, its hypocritical of itv to axe Jeremy Kyle following the death of a contestant (first in 14 years) but continue to air love island after the death of 2 contestant in 4 years. I guess money is more important than welfare to them.’
MailOnline has contacted Love Island representatives for comment.
Mike was found dead in a woodland near his Edmonton home in March after which his devastated family confirmed he had committed suicide.
Sophie, meanwhile, was found hanged in her home in Ponteland, Northumberland in June last year by her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong and his brother Ryan.
Morals: Following the news, fans have called out ITV for pulling Jeremy Kyle, while ‘cash cow’ Love Island, which is set to return on June 3, continues despite the deaths of Mike and Sophie
Aaron was found dead aged 25 at his own home just 20 days later in the same circumstances.
Love Island’s Sophie had binged on cocaine and alcohol before her death, an inquest heard.
The axing of Jeremy Kyle comes after reports Love Island will not be pay tribute to Mike at the start of the show’s new series next month.
The show will instead honour the late reality star on ITV’s on-demand service as ‘it felt more appropriate to do it there’, a source told The Sun.
The service will play alongside the 2017 series in which Mike starred in, and will soon be available as a boxset on the ITV hub.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or see samaritans.org for details.
Tribute: The axing comes after reports Love Island will not be pay tribute to Mike at the start of the show’s new series next month
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