The Jeremy Kyle Show

In late 2004, Trisha Goddard left from ITV to move her talk show to Channel 5. Radio broadcaster Jeremy Kyle was drafted in to host a talk show, The Jeremy Kyle Show, which was first broadcast on 4 July 2005 in ITV's weekday 9:25am slot. During the launch week of the programme and the week of Kyle's 40th birthday, the show was overshadowed by news coverage of the London tube bombings. Earlier in that week, a transmission breakdown disrupted one of the first three showings. In 2007, the show was nominated for the "Most Popular Factual Programme" award at the 13th National Television Awards, although lost in that category to Top Gear. ==Format==

Guests The guests were, according to the New Statesman, "poor, mainly white, always working-class families" who were concerned about the personal problems of someone they knew. In the opinion of Anoosh Chakelian in the same publication, it curated "a morbidly chaotic picture of a British underclass – for those watching at home to scoff and sneer at – with the veneer of helping them". In a 2007 article for The Independent, the journalist Paul Vallely referred to Kyle treating his guests "with a false mateyness, calling them 'babe', 'sweet' or 'Davey boy'". A former producer has alleged that the show's guests had mental health problems; the producer commented anonymously that the guests were normally "at the very least depressed" and that "if they truly screened for mental health issues, there would be no one on that show". Frequently, when friends or relatives of the show's guests entered the stage having heard backstage what had been said, strong language and fights would break out, with the former resulting in the sound being dipped. The latter was similarly not shown; instead, the camera gave a view of the audience and Kyle until his security team had restored order. This led to the show being compared, by a former producer, with Roman gladiatorial combat in its brutality. Critics, however, have said that Kyle's reactions and comments are repetitive and well-worn, such as "Put something on the end of it!" in the context of birth control, or his annoyance at unemployed fathers. However, the validity of polygraph tests have been seriously questioned by researchers, to the point that they are rarely cited as a source of legal evidence in countries such as the United States, and its use on the show has been criticised, in spite of the show asserting the results to be infallible. At one point, to prove the legitimacy of the "lie detector" test, Jeremy Kyle performed a live on-stage test with the question, "Are you, or have you ever been, a llama?" to which he replied yes, which was identified as a lie. Carole Cadwalladr wrote in The Observer in 2008: "Kyle regularly claims the lie detector is 96 per cent accurate, whereas a 1997 survey of 421 psychologists estimated it to be 61 per cent. Or not much better than chance." In a parliamentary inquiry, the producers at the time of cancellation said that they did not know how accurate the tests were. ==Reception==

Court cases By May 2019, the programme had directly led to two court cases related to assault and leading to convictions. An ITV spokeswoman responded in defence that "we take the safety and well-being of studio guests extremely seriously. It is made clear to all guests prior to going into the studio that no violence is ever tolerated." In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Kyle responded by saying: "Sometimes people need to be stripped bare before they can be helped." An appearance on Kyle's programme by a couple on the issue of alleged infidelity led to a man's assault of his female partner and criminal charges being made against him. The woman sustained a "shattered eye socket and cheekbone and bite marks". At Peterborough Crown Court in July 2009, Judge Sean Enright jailed the man for two years after he admitted causing grievous bodily harm. The judge said "there is plainly an element of cruelty and exploitation in what takes place" on Kyle's programme, and that the couple "must have both suffered considerable mortification and embarrassment". Grant Cunningham, the head of ITV's factual programming, expressed surprise at the judge's comments, as the judge had not seen the programme, and disputed his claims. Stanier told The Observer that he was "immensely proud" of the help provided to the show's guests, with "full shows of people coming back on the programme who have been successful in overcoming drug, alcohol or relationship problems, through the care that we have provided". ITV has denied these charges, claiming that "two of the guests were given alcohol to counteract withdrawal symptoms while the third had not mentioned a drink problem", that "guests are not deliberately agitated before appearing", and that the show provided to its guests "proper, professional help, funded by the programme, which has really and undeniably helped hundreds of people". It has also been alleged by a former guest on the show that due to Ofcom rules, they were forced to change out of a jumper with a branded logo into a tracksuit before being vilified by Kyle for their clothing choice. It has been alleged, by Zoe Williams of The Guardian and others, that guests were separated prior to the show and assigned separate researchers who would "wind up" guests in order to bring about a reaction when they appeared together during the programme's recording. Critical reception The Jeremy Kyle Show received extreme critical disdain throughout its run. In The Observer, Carole Cadwalladr was of the opinion that "the show is built around creating a spectacle out of the damaged fragments of people's lives" and summarised it as an "explosive spectacle of anger, vitriol and confrontation". Of Kyle, Cadwalladr said that "Some of his opinions are so well-worn they're almost catchphrases" and wrote in 2008 that the show was "more like a witchcraft trial. Where the judge and jury is Jeremy Kyle". Cadwalladr further criticised the "lie detector" as "the modern equivalent of the ducking stool, or at least about as scientifically accurate". In The Times, columnist Martin Samuel described the show as "a tragic, self-serving procession of freaks, misfits, sad sacks and hopelessly damaged human beings" and its guests as "a collection of angry, tearful and broken people, whose inexperience of talking through painful, contentious, volatile issues leaves them unprepared and inadequate for a confrontation of this nature" whilst noting that they "can only appear intellectually inferior to the host, too, with his sharp suit and well-rehearsed confidence". Reviewing for The Guardian, Charlie Brooker wrote that the show was "completely and utterly horrid". Brooker described Kyle as "unafraid to hurl abuse at his hapless idiot guests" and commented "not that I'm saying Kyle himself is an agent of Satan, you understand. I'm just saying you could easily cast him as one. Especially if you wanted to save money on special effects". In an episode of ''Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'', Brooker later described the show as "a non-stop bellowing festival, in which a cast of people who resemble a sort of aquatic livestock chart the outer limits of incomprehension." Derek Draper, writing in The Guardian, said that Kyle "effectively projects himself as a strong father figure, setting boundaries and trying to teach responsibility and restraint" to those on his show. Johann Hari of The Independent called the show's morality "unconsciously but wonderfully progressive", as it attacked "Men who treat women badly. Homophobes. Misogynists. Neglectful parents." However, Hari believed that "[t]here are good reasons to be worried". Hari summarised the show by saying that "distressed people [...] have their wounds ripped open for our enjoyment", suggested that all guests should receive ongoing counselling, and commented on how the working class were treated on the show: "[t]here are also ugly prejudices encoded in the sneers". ==Sponsorship==

On 29 September 2007, Learndirect, the government-backed sponsors of The Jeremy Kyle Show, cancelled their £500,000 a year deal over concerns about its content following a letter of protest from Welsh Member of Parliament David Davies. Ufi, which runs the Learndirect adult learning service, said continuing the deal would not "protect and enhance" its reputation. The former sponsor of the show in Scotland, Shades Blinds, retained their association with the programme although they did raise the possibility of withdrawing their sponsorship. It was subsequently sponsored by The Sun Bingo, and has been sponsored by several bingo companies such as Wink Bingo, Foxy Bingo, Cheeky Bingo and Gala Bingo. ==Cancellation==

On 9 May 2019, Hampshire Police found a man dead at an address in Portsmouth. He was confirmed to be 63-year-old Steve Dymond and the police said "the death is not being treated as suspicious". Dymond had been a guest on an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show that had been filmed a week before his death and had not yet been aired. He took part in the show's polygraph test, which determined he was being unfaithful to his partner after he had initially denied being so. During the episode, Kyle accused Dymond of being a "serial liar" and made other disparaging comments and allegations about Dymond. As a result of this incident, several individuals called for the show to be permanently taken off the air, including former ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, Members of Parliament Damian Collins, Charles Walker and Julie Elliott and psychiatrist Simon Wessely. A statement from 10 Downing Street referred to the incident as "deeply concerning". Media regulator Ofcom stated that they were "discussing this programme with ITV as a priority to understand what took place." On 15 May 2019, ITV's chief executive Carolyn McCall announced that the programme was cancelled, stating: 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. Everyone at ITV's thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of Steve Dymond. On 19 May, it was revealed that a guest on another show hosted by Kyle, ''Britain's Worst Husband'', died by suicide after her appearance. On 18 June 2019, it was announced that Kyle declined to appear before MPs investigating reality television, although senior executives (including McCall and Stanier) had appeared. In February 2020, it was reported that Natasha Reddican, an ITV producer who had worked on the show, had died. A coroner later ruled her death to be a suicide. Colleagues speaking anonymously to Channel 4 said she had struggled with feelings of guilt. A coroner's ruling published in November 2020 stated that "acts or omissions" by Kyle "may have caused or contributed to" Dymond's death. ==Parodies==

The Jeremy Kyle Show has been the subject of parody by at least two BBC comedy shows. In the programme Dead Ringers, a parody of the show has appeared. Also, in October 2007, the BBC began broadcasting The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle, a sitcom starring and co-written by Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron. David Walliams had a series of sketches parodying the show as if it involved middle class guests in his sketch show Walliams & Friend in 2016. The music video for Let You Go by Chase & Status darkly satirises Kyle and his show; portrayed by actor Glenn Carter, the parodic 'Patrick Chase' chastises guests on his talk show, before engaging in substance abuse, adultery, heavy drinking, partying, and the hiring of a prostitute with whom Chase has intercourse while watching himself on television. In the webcomic Scary Go Round, the character Desmond Fishman goes on The Jeremy Kyle Show as part of a scheme to parlay his freakish fish-like biology into fame and fortune. ==Episodes==

A behind-the-scenes DVD, titled Jeremy Kyle: Access All Areas, was released in late 2009. The DVD follows the series' structure and how each programme was prepared and produced. ==American version==

In January 2010, ITV announced an agreement to take a pilot version of the show to the United States in 2010, in partnership with Lions Gate Entertainment subsidiary Debmar-Mercury. The pilot proved successful, and in November 2010, the American version was picked up in 70% of the U.S. television markets, ahead of its 19 September 2011 debut. In December 2012, the American version of The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled due to lower than expected ratings. ==References==