THE Jeremy Kyle show was taken off the air indefinitely after a guest who failed a love-cheat lie detector test took his life days after appearing on the show.
Who was Steve Dymond and what actually happened in the lead up to his tragic death?
Who was Steve Dymond?
Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead on May 9, 2019, shortly after he appeared on the daytime ITV programme – The Jeremy Kyle Show.
The construction worker had first split from his fiancée Jane Callaghan in February that year after she accused him of cheating on her, seeing him sign up to the talk show in a bid to prove her wrong.
Just seven days after his appearance, Dymond was found dead at his home after taking his own life.
The 63-year-old was laid to rest by the local council after cutting ties with his family before he died.
What happened on The Jeremy Kyle Show?
Dymond went on The Jeremy Kyle Show in an attempt to convince his fiancée Jane Callaghan that he hadn’t been unfaithful.
But despite his claims, Dymond was shown to have failed a love-cheat lie detector test, despite his partner later explaining he was “really excited and confident” in proving his innocence.
According to his family’s counsel, when the result was announced the audience “booed and jeered” at him and he was “called a failure by the presenter”.
She also claimed Jeremy Kyle has got “in his face” and even when he was “at the point of collapsing, he was still being heckled”.
It was revealed that the Brit broadcaster had told Dymond he “would not trust him with a chocolate button” and remarked: “Has anyone got a shovel?”
Dymond claimed he’d applied for the show 300 times, to prove to Jane that he hadn’t cheated on her.
Jane, who said Steve had been diagnosed with depression, told The Celeb Report Online: “He wanted to go on. He was really excited and confident. But it was all a front and I knew it. He wasn’t well at all.”
The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled the day after his death, on May 10, 2019, before ITV decided to permanently axe it.
What has Jeremy Kyle said about Steve Dymond?
The 56-year-old said the ordeal left him “completely devastated” and unable to “leave the house or even open the curtains.”
He exclusively told The Celeb Report: “I don’t want to sound ‘woe is me’, and as I’ve said the whole thing was a terrible tragedy — devastating for Steve Dymond’s friends and family, of course, and for the many people who worked on the show.
“But it did hit me hard. And it’s been awful to feel so scapegoated, and without being able to have my say about the accusations that often seemed to be levelled only at me.”
His show was axed after 17 series shortly before the episode featuring Dymond was set to air, seeing him spiral into depression and turn to anxiety medication to cope.