Steve Dymond inquest: Clips of unaired Jeremy Kyle show played in court
Jeremy Kyle has defended both his chat show and his presenting style during the inquest into the death of a man after appearing on the programme.
It came as the court was also shown clips from the unaired show for the first time.
Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in May 2019, seven days after taking part in the show.
Steve Dymond died after filming an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show. Pic: Family handout/PA
A coroner found he had died of a combination of a morphine overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy in his heart.
Mr Dymond had taken a lie detector test for the ITV programme after being accused of cheating on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan. Following his death, the episode was never aired, and the series was later cancelled.
Kyle arrived on day three of the inquest at Winchester Coroner’s Court accompanied by his solicitor, agent and several other people, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt and light blue tie. He then sat attentively until he was called to give evidence.
The 59-year-old presenter stood by the structure of the show, saying the stories featured were “a journey” containing both “conflict” and “resolution,” and defended his style of presenting saying “it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest”.
The court was shown clips from the unaired episode, with one showing Kyle saying to Mr Dymond: “The truth of the matter is you mate, you did make up a cacophony of lies, you can sit there looking upset, people could look at this and think it’s dodgy.”
After revealing the result of the lie detector test, Kyle said: “The test says you are lying, pal, you failed every single question.”
The clip showed Ms Callaghan bursting into tears with boos being heard from the audience and Mr Dymond looking shocked as he says: “I wasn’t, I have never been unfaithful.”
Kyle replied: “The studio thought you were telling the truth, I wouldn’t trust you with a chocolate button mate.”
Kyle: ‘Grow a pair of balls and tell the truth’
Another clip featured Kyle telling Mr Dymond: “Be a man, grow a pair of balls and tell her the goddam truth.”
While another featured the presenter asking “Has anyone got a shovel?” as Mr Dymond attempted to explain why he had been messaging another woman.
Kyle denied encouraging the audience to take against Mr Dymond, telling the inquest: “Not at all – I asked them to give them a round of applause.” He said clips showed he had “de-escalated” and “calmed” the situation rather than inflaming it.
He went on to tell the court he believed the show took “the right approach”, and he “always believed the stories were a journey.”
He said you could “absolutely” see a journey in Mr Dymond’s case, including where he and his partner “face the truth”. He said: “It is conflict, it is resolution.”
He also made clear he was “not involved in the selection of guests” on his TV show, and was “employed absolutely as the presenter,” and nothing more.
Jeremy Kyle. Pic: Channel 4/ITV/Shutterstock
He later added: “The production, the producing, the after-care, the lie detector test were not my responsibility, I was the presenter,” going on to explain that while he had created a persona for the show, he had not been trained how to handle emotional guests.
When asked by Rachel Spearing, counsel to the inquest, whether he believed Mr Dymond was humiliated on the show, Kyle answered: “I do not”.
Maya Sikand KC, the lawyer representing Steve Dymond’s family, put it to Kyle that some of the things he said to Mr Dymond during the show were “belittling,” to which he answered “I wouldn’t agree”. He said that while Mr Dymond did get upset during filming, “he wasn’t upset from the beginning, that’s the journey and that’s the way the Jeremy Kyle show was.”
The Jeremy Kyle Show first aired in 2005 and ran for 17 series before it was cancelled on 10 May 2019, the day after Mr Dymond’s death.
It was ITV’s most popular daytime programme.
ITV stood by Kyle at the time, with the broadcaster’s director of television Kevin Lygo confirming it was piloting a new show with him later that year, although not in the same 9.30am timeslot.
The process of the lie detector test
Ahead of Kyle’s evidence on Thursday morning, the inquest was told that after filming had finished, Mr Dymond had told a researcher: “I wish I was dead.”
Mr Dymond had rung ITV 40 to 50 times in “desperate” attempts to become a guest on the show, the inquest was previously told.
Video clips from the unaired show were played to the court, showing Mr Dymond being advised about the processes of the lie detector test.
In the video, Mr Dymond asked the polygraph examiner, who was contracted by ITV to carry out the procedure, whether the test is “99.9% accurate”, to which the examiner replied: “They are 95% accurate” with a “narrow risk of error”.
The examiner also advised Mr Dymond that “if you fail one question, you fail the lot”.
The clips also show Mr Dymond watching a video informing him about the test which advises the participant to be “truthful, open and honest”.
Jeremy Kyle. Pic: Rex
Lie detector results added ‘element of drama’
Chris Wissun, director of content compliance at ITV at the time Mr Dymond appeared on the ITV show, returned to the witness box, explaining that the lie detector test was “a very well-established editorial feature of the programme”.
He said Kyle would not have been informed of the lie detector result ahead of time but would discover the outcome in real time during the filming of the show.
Mr Wissun said: “The producer wouldn’t reveal the results to the presenter, the results would be given to him during the programme.
“He would open the envelope and reveal the results and tell the guests what the results were. There was an element of drama in that moment.”
He also said he was not aware that Kyle had been asked to “modify his approach or presenting style” when dealing with Mr Dymond.
Mr Wissun previously told the court he had been informed that Kyle was “very receptive” to advice from the aftercare team about whether he needed to adapt or soften his presenting style for particular guests.
The hearing heard that the show’s aftercare team had offered Mr Dymond eight to 10 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy for self-esteem and confidence building after the show to help him address his “problem with lying”. Counselling did not go ahead due to his death.
Ms Callaghan and Mr Dymond’s son, Carl Woolley, gave evidence on the first day of the inquest.
Mr Dymond had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and taken overdoses on four previous occasions – in January 1995, twice in December 2002, and April 2005 – the hearing was told on Wednesday.
The court heard he also made another apparent suicide attempt in 2002.
He was sectioned in September 2005, and a mental health assessment then found he was at “risk of suicide”.
Mr Dymond’s death added to growing scrutiny of the duty of care that reality TV shows have to participants, coming after the death of two former Love Island contestants, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Entertainment
Primal Scream says video with alleged antisemitic imagery shown at gig was meant to provoke debate
Primal Scream have said a video containing alleged antisemitic imagery was a “piece of art” and was intended to “provoke debate, not hate”.
Warning: This article contains alleged antisemitic imagery.
The Scottish rock band have been reported to the Metropolitan Police for showing a film at their Roundhouse concert in Camden, London on Monday which appeared to include imagery of the Star of David entwined with a swastika.
The force is now assessing the report.
‘Film is a piece of art’
Primal Scream said in a statement on Instagram: “The film is a piece of art. It clearly draws from history to question where the actions of current world governments sit in that context. It is meant to provoke debate, not hate.
“In a free, pluralistic and liberal society freedom of expression is a right which we choose to exercise.”
Primal Scream, founded by frontman Bobby Gillespie in 1982, were playing a 25-year anniversary show for their album XTRMNTR.
As the group performed Swastika Eyes, pictures of political figures including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared behind them, showing what appeared to be the Star of David combined with a swastika in their eyes.
The video from the gig that sparked the report to police
Venue ‘appalled’
The Roundhouse has apologised, saying it was “appalled” that “antisemitic imagery was displayed”, adding it was done entirely without its knowledge.
It said in a statement: “We deeply regret that these highly offensive images were presented on our stage and unequivocally apologise to anyone who attended the gig and to the wider Jewish community.”
It added: “Our organisation absolutely condemns antisemitism in every form.”
Call for ‘urgent investigation’
The Community Security Trust (CST), which provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK, said it had reported the band to police and called on the venue to carry out an “urgent investigation”.
In a statement, a CST spokesperson said: “CST is appalled by the grossly antisemitic image displayed at Primal Scream. Entwining a Star of David with a swastika implies that Jews are Nazis and risks encouraging hatred of Jews.
“There needs to be an urgent investigation by the venue and the promoter about how this happened, and we have reported this to the police.”
What have police said?
Responding to that report, a Met Police spokesperson said: “On Wednesday, 10 December, we received a report in relation to a video shown on stage during a concert at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm Road, Camden on Monday, 8 December.
“It is being assessed by officers.”
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‘Unadulterated hatred’
The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Nazi swastika represents the ideology that inspired people to industrially slaughter six million innocent Jewish men, women and children by bullet, gas and any other means available.
“To visually combine that with the Star of David – the pre-eminent symbol of Judaism – is absolutely sickening and totally inexcusable.
“This isn’t art. This isn’t edgy. This isn’t political statement. It is unadulterated hatred and a clear breach of the international definition of antisemitism.
“We will be writing to the Camden Roundhouse and our legal team is examining the footage to consider further steps.”
Author Joanna Trollope has died aged 82, her family has said.
Trollope was one of the nation’s most widely read authors, having published more than 30 novels during a career that began in the 1970s.
Her novels include “Aga sagas” The Rector’s Wife, Marrying The Mistress and Daughters-in-Law.
In a statement, Trollope’s daughters Antonia and Louise said: “Our beloved and inspirational mother Joanna Trollope has died peacefully at her Oxfordshire home, on December 11, aged 82.”
Trollope with Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. Pic: PA
Her literary agent James Gill said: “It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of Joanna Trollope, one of our most cherished, acclaimed and widely enjoyed novelists.
“Joanna will be mourned by her children, grandchildren, family, her countless friends and – of course – her readers.”
Trollope was born in Gloucestershire in 1943. She won a scholarship to study at the University of Oxford in the 1960s.
After graduating, she joined the Foreign Office before training as a teacher and then turning to writing full-time in 1980.
The author was best known for her novels set in rural middle England and centred around domestic life and relationships.
Her early historical romances were written under the pseudonym Caroline Harvey, before she turned to contemporary fiction.
Her work tackled a range of topics from affairs, blended families and adoption, to parenting and marital breakdown.
Trollope with shortlisted novels for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Pic: PA
Trollope also took part in The Austen Project, which saw six of Jane Austen’s novels retold by contemporary writers.
She wrote the first book in the series, Sense & Sensibility, published in 2013.
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In 1996, Trollope was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to literature and later made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019.
She won the Romantic Novel of the Year in 1980 for the book Parson Harding’s Daughter and in 2010 was given a lifetime achievement award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) for her services to romance.
She went on to chair a number of award ceremonies, including the Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread Prize, as well as the BBC National Short Story Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Glaswegian comic actor and impressionist Stanley Baxter has died at the age of 99.
Baxter was bold enough to mimic the Pope and even the Queen and sent up his native city with comic routines based on Glaswegian patois.
The Scot received several awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards and two TV tribute programmes.
His friend and biographer Brian Beacom said the TV star died on Thursday in a north London care home for entertainment figures.
He had lived in the home, Denville Hall, since late 2023 and was a few months away from celebrating his 100th birthday.
Pic: PA
Baxter’s TV shows, in which he often appeared grotesquely in drag, attracted huge audiences and marked him out as one of the funniest, as well as sometimes one of the most controversial, comics of his generation.
Baxter was also popular on the Scottish pantomime circuit, until his retirement in 1991.
Although he did emerge occasionally and briefly from retirement, he largely disappeared from show business and from the public eye.
Baxter was married for 46 years. His wife, Moira died in 1997.
In 2020, he released a co-written biography, The Real Stanley Baxter, which revealed he was gay and had told his wife before they married.
Baxter was born on 24 May, 1926 and started his career as a child actor in the Scottish edition of BBC’s Children’s Hour.
During his National Service, he developed his skills in the Combined Services Entertainment Unit.
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He then returned to Glasgow, and later to London, where he launched a glittering career in television.
He made his debut in the BBC’s Shop Window in 1952, followed by several guest appearances in variety shows.
But it was on the satirical BBC show On The Bright Side (1959) that he was handed his major TV break.
The Stanley Baxter Show (1963-1971) cemented his reputation and propelled him to television stardom.
Scots comedian Stanley Baxter and Julie Dean, a Brian Rogers dancer, rehearsing for Stanley Baxter on Television in 1979. Pic: PA
Baxter also starred in various TV spectaculars, including Stanley Baxter’s Christmas Box.
Among his most successful routines was Parliamo Glasgow, which was conceived as being written by a fictitious scholar visiting the city.
The sketch took the Glasgow patois and developed it to comic effect, such as “sanoffy cold day” for “It’s an awfully cold day”.
Stanley Baxter in 1969. Pic: Shutterstock
After his retirement, he appeared in 2004 in a series of three half-hour sitcoms for BBC Radio 4, entitled Stanley Baxter and Friends.
He also lent his voice to the animated children’s film Arabian Knight and the television series Meeow.
Baxter appeared in a number of films, including Very Important Person (1961), in which he played a fiercely nationalistic Scot.
Other film appearances included Geordie (1955), The Fast Lady (1962) and And Father Came Too! (1963).
Baxter also gained an Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television Award from Bafta Scotland in a digital ceremony in 2020.
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