Jeremy Kyle Show producers were denied meals and unable to eat unless they booked guests, a disturbing new documentary has claimed. 

Jeremy Kyle: Death on Daytime is a shocking two-part series investigating the explosive programme, which was eventually axed in 2019 after guest Steve Dymond died by suicide shortly after failing a notoriously unreliable lie-detector to prove if he had cheated on his partner. 

However, following the immediate end of The Jeremy Kyle Show, many former members of staff came forward with claims of abusive behavior and manipulation from bosses. 

In the Channel 4 documentary set to air this weekend, one producer said they were ‘treated like rats in a lab’. 

Another alleged: ‘Let’s say you were working and it’s like 10 o clock at night and you’ve got nothing on your board, it doesn’t matter if you’ve not had a break, because they would have to order your tea from one of the restaurants nearby. 

‘If you said can we have tea we’re starving, the producer would say, no.’

When the documentary’s director asks if they weren’t allowed to eat until guests were confirmed, they said: ‘Yeah.’ 

Another anonymous staff member said they would often lie about the results of mental health checks because there was ‘such pressure’ to book guests. 

Someone else who worked on The Jeremy Kyle Show said they would get calls ‘virtually every week’ from people threatening to kill themselves after appearing. 

‘There will probably be say two calls a week from people saying that and it was your job as someone who had no mental health expertise to determine if they were telling the truth. 

If you said can we have tea we’re starving, the producer would say, no

‘Who the f**k was I at 21 to be determining if someone wants to kill themselves and it was kind of like if you could get them to almost be like “Oh I don’t want to” that would be like sweet, yeah finally it can go out to air and we have not wasted any money.’

Dymond’s episode never aired on ITV and all episodes of the show were immediately pulled from ITV Hub and YouTube. 

The Jeremy Kyle Show ran for 14 years, and featured more than 20,000 people. 

The host currently hosts his own talkRadio show and is about to make his TV comeback on Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV, which will also be the home of Piers Morgan: Uncensored. 

In response to the Channel 4 documentary, ITV said it 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.’

A statement issued by the broadcaster 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.

‘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…’

Jeremy Kyle: Death On Daytime airs Sunday at Monday at 9pm on Channel 4.

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