Steve Dymond inquest: Unaired clip from The Jeremy Kyle Show released for first time – as presenter defends himself

Published

1 year ago

September 5, 2024

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Jeremy Kyle has defended both his chat show and his presenting style during the inquest into the death of a man who appeared 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.

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 not 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 others, 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 said: “I wasn’t, I have never been unfaithful.”

Kyle replied in the footage: “The studio thought you were telling the truth, I wouldn’t trust you with a chocolate button mate.”

Kyle insists guests knew what they were getting into

Katie Spencer

Arts and entertainment correspondent

@SkyKatieSpencer

From a man whose whole style was cutting, quick and at times contemptuous, it was perhaps to be expected that in court we’d hear no acceptance of responsibility from Jeremy Kyle.

Choosing his words carefully, he explained his name might have been on the show but insisted he felt satisfied about moving from guest to guest knowing others would be there to give support.

How he viewed his onscreen style from back then clearly enabled a level of disassociation. “Jeremy Kyle” was a character, a part. Guests had seen his style and knew what they were getting into.

But in clips of the show which never aired, Steve Dymond looks visibly out of his depth.

Kyle berating “your conscious will serve you in time,” are words that must surely haunt the presenter now.

Once one of the most recognisable faces of daytime TV, one of ITV’s biggest TV stars is now persona non grata on mainstream television.

Previous employers are seemingly unwilling now to be associated with his hectoring style.

Kyle insisted in court today his guests knew what they were getting into.

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 turn against Mr Dymond, telling the inquest: “Not at all – I asked them to give them a round of applause.” He said the clips showed he had “de-escalated” and “calmed” the situation rather than inflaming it.

When asked by his barrister Nick Sheldon KC if he had “egged on the audience to boo” Mr Dymond, “pounced on him”, “heckled him”, “got in his face” or called him a “traitor” or a “failure”, Kyle said: “No, not at all”.

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.

Kyle 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 on 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”.

Lie detector results added ‘element of drama’

Speaking in the witness box across the second and third day of the inquest, Chris Wissun, director of content compliance at ITV at the time Mr Dymond appeared on the ITV show, explained 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: “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.”

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.

Qualified mental health nurse Steph MacDonald, who was part of the show’s aftercare team, also gave evidence.

Ms Callaghan and Mr Dymond’s son, Carl Woolley, entered the witness box 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.

The hearing continues.

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

UK

‘Victory for Virginia’, says family of Prince Andrew’s accuser – as royal gives up all his titles

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

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'Victory for Virginia', says family of Prince Andrew's accuser - as royal gives up all his titles

The family of Virginia Giuffre has said Prince Andrew’s decision to give up his titles, including the Duke of York, is “vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere”.

“This is not just a victory for her, but for every single survivor of the horrific crimes perpetrated by [Jeffrey] Epstein and his co-conspirators,” they said in a statement.

Andrew will no longer be known as the Duke of York, in a move which finally completes his banishment from royal life. However, he will remain a prince, as the son of Queen Elizabeth II.

His former wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also no longer use her title of The Duchess of York, it is understood.

In a statement, Prince Andrew said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.

“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Why is this happening now?

The decision comes following increased pressure on Prince Andrew after continuing reports of his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

The posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, is due to be released on Tuesday. She had accused Andrew of sexual assault, and sued him in August 2021.

The book will go on sale a week after an email emerged showing Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together”, three months after he said he had stopped contact with the convicted sex offender.

On Friday evening, the US House Oversight Committee also released documents from Epstein’s estate showing “Prince Andrew” listed as a passenger on the financier’s private jet – the so-called Lolita Express – from Luton to Edinburgh in 2006, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell.

He was also listed on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.

The flight logs have been reported on for years but the release may have added to pressure.

“The situation has become untenable and intolerable, and this week in particular, the tipping point had been reached,” said Sky News royal correspondent Laura Bundock.

What is Prince Andrew giving up?

Prince Andrew is giving up his Duke of York title
His knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
His Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham
He had already stopped using his HRH title and and was stripped of military patronages by the Queen in 2022
He will retain his dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but will not use it
He will also remain a prince as he was born the son of Elizabeth II

It is understood the changes will take effect immediately, with the Giuffre family calling for the King to go further and “remove the title of Prince”.

King ‘glad’ of the outcome

The King is glad of the outcome, it is understood, and the decision was taken in close consultation with His Majesty and other members of the Royal Family.

Andrew will continue to be known as Prince Andrew and will remain living at the Windsor Estate at the Royal Lodge.

The move does not impact the position of his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

For the second year running, he is not expected to attend the Royal Family’s annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham.

‘An unwelcome distraction’

Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills said: “This is quite an extraordinary move. I think it shows that, actually, things had gone too far.

“Prince Andrew, and allegations about him and Virginia Giuffre, were continuing to be too much of a distraction for the Royal Family.”

Jack Royston, chief royal correspondent at Newsweek, told Sky News: “This does not go far enough.”

There should be an acknowledgement from the Royal Family, he said, “irrespective of whether Prince Andrew denies the substantive allegations against him [that] it was morally wrong for him to grovel to Jeffrey Epstein”.

The Guardian’s former royal correspondent Stephen Bates also told Sky News: “He’s shown no sign of any sort of contrition. He continues to deny all the allegations against him. And he speaks of his duty to the family. Well, it’s a bit late to be thinking about that.”

What is Prince Andrew accused of?

Prince Andrew has denied allegations made by Ms Giuffre – one of Epstein’s victims – of sexual assault.

She had filed a civil lawsuit against him, accusing him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions after she was introduced to him by Epstein.

In a 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Andrew said he had no knowledge of ever meeting Ms Giuffre, claiming a well-known image of them together had been doctored.

The case was settled outside court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.

Following Ms Giuffre’s death in April, aged 41, her family said she “lost her life to suicide” at her farm in Western Australia.

Giuffre’s family: ‘Victory for Virginia’

In a statement, the family of Ms Giuffre said they supported Andrew’s decision but repeated accusations that he had made misleading statements. Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Analysis: Prince Andrew giving up titles was clearly not entirely his decision

It is extraordinary that it has come to this but the distraction had to stop.

The statement comes straight from Prince Andrew, the tone of it very personal as he says he is putting his “duty to my family and country first”.

But this was clearly not entirely his decision.

From the first sentence, where he says “in discussion with the King”, we’re left in no doubt that his brother must have said enough was enough.

UK

Prince Andrew giving up titles was clearly not entirely his decision

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

admin

Prince Andrew giving up titles was clearly not entirely his decision

It is extraordinary that it has come to this but the distraction had to stop.

The statement comes straight from Prince Andrew, the tone of it very personal as he says he is putting his “duty to my family and country first”.

But this was clearly not entirely his decision.

From the first sentence, where he says “in discussion with the King”, we’re left in no doubt his brother must have said enough was enough.

The fact we’re being guided that the King is glad of this outcome says it all; for the monarch and the wider family, the questions of what they were going to do about Andrew had to stop.

After years of upset caused by his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, he has done the family one favour by personally announcing that he will no longer use his titles.

For the King to forcibly remove them would have taken up precious parliamentary time and weeks of column inches.

To be clear, his titles aren’t removed, they remain extant but inactive like his HRH title.

But Andrew won’t use them any more, and that will be humiliation enough for a man who has already been stripped of his military affiliations, his charity patronages and his ability to have any kind of public profile.

This ends the questions on what more the monarch could do to show how the family felt about the accusations, the upset and the embarrassment caused.

Will it stop the stories, the allegations and the interest in Prince Andrew? That is far less certain.

But in what is his first public statement since that ill-fated Newsnight interview in 2019, it is striking that he signs it off by saying: “I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

UK

Everything we know about Prince Andrew’s titles decision

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

admin

Everything we know about Prince Andrew's titles decision

Prince Andrew has announced he is giving up his royal titles, including the Duke of York.

The decision is understood to have been made in close consultation with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family.

Prince Andrew said continued accusations against him were distracting from the King’s work.

He had been accused by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, of sexual assault. He denies this.

Which titles is he giving up?

Prince Andrew is giving up his Duke of York title. Sky News understands this will be immediate.

He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

He will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but will not use it.

Prince Andrew will also remain a prince, as the son of Queen Elizabeth II.

Why is this happening now?

Ms Giuffre, who was one of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, alleged Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, and sued him in 2021.

In her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, due to be published on Tuesday, she alleged he was “entitled” and “believed having sex with me was his birthright”.

Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations.

He has also always claimed that a well-known image of them together was doctored. Before her death, which her family said was by suicide, the case was settled outside of court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.

Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoir goes on sale a week after an email emerged showing Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together”.

The email was reportedly sent three months after he said he had stopped contact with the convicted sex offender.

He was also listed on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.

The flight logs have been reported on for years but the release may have added to pressure.

“The situation has become untenable and intolerable, and this week in particular, the tipping point had been reached,” said royal correspondent Laura Bundock.

It is understood that the changes will take effect immediately.

The Giuffre family has called for the King to go further and “remove the title of Prince”.

Prince Andrew’s decision to relinquish his titles also comes following increased pressure over his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

Will this affect his ex-wife and daughters?

Sky News understands that Andrew will continue to live at the Windsor Estate at the Royal Lodge. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also remain living at the Royal Lodge.

But for the second year running, he will not attend the Royal Family’s annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham, it is understood.

Andrew’s ex-wife will also no longer use her Duchess of York title.

She was dropped by numerous charities last month after it emerged that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a “supreme friend”, despite publicly disowning him in the media.

The decision over Andrew’s titles will not impact on the position of his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, it is understood.

Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills says the move may not stop the influx of negative stories about him.

She said: “This ends the questions on what more the monarch could do to show how the family felt about the accusations, the upset and the embarrassment caused.

“Will it stop the stories, the allegations and the interest in Prince Andrew? That is far less certain. But in what is the prince’s first public statement since that ill-fated Newsnight interview in 2019, it is striking that he signs it off by saying, ‘I vigorously deny the accusations against me’.”

What did Prince Andrew say in his statement?

In his statement, Prince Andrew said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.

“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”