Staffers and guests who appeared on the cancelled tabloid conflict talk show The Jeremy Kyle Show on ITV in the United Kingdom are speaking out in a new TV documentary about how Jeremy allegedly smoked cannabis with them, how people on the show were riled up to be their angriest and were given alcohol, and drug users even encouraged to go get drugs before the recording of episodes.
ITV permanently cancelled The Jeremy Kyle Show last week after production was abruptly suspended earlier this month after a man who appeared on it for an upcoming episode, killed himself when he failed a lie detector test.
The Jeremy Kyle Show was seen in South Africa for a number of years, on the former TopTV's (now StarSat) Top One channel in late-2012 and 2013, and on ITV Choice (DStv 123) in 2016. It wasn't currently broadcast in South Africa.
ITV that denies everything being said in the documentary, Jeremy Kyle: TV on Trial done by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom as part of its Dispatches programme, in a statement about the cancellation of the show said that "now is the right time for the show to end".
It comes as this form of confrontational tabloid television is seeing an upsurge in South Africa on channels like Siyaya TV's Moja Love (DStv 157) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, with sensationalist fighting shows ranging from Rea Tsotella and Uthando Noxolo to No Excuse Pay Papgeld and Uyajola 9/9.
Dwayne Davison who appeared twice on The Jeremy Kyle Show told the documentary that that show "is for poor people to go on so we can humiliate them - it ruins lives". He explained how he was invited and locked in a room for 10 hours before going on the show.
"I think that show is for poor people to go on so we can humiliate them - it ruins lives."— Channel 4 Dispatches (@C4Dispatches) May 27, 2019
This man was branded the Jeremy Kyle Show's most hated guest - he tells Dispatches how the show has affected him since. pic.twitter.com/7HfK0G2kzz
The Daily Mail reports how a former producer on the show said that drug users were encouraged to go get drugs before their show appearance, while other producers explained how guests were given cannabis as well as liquor.
ITV denied the allegations and said alcohol was only given to people who are going to rehab and experienced withdrawal symptoms.
Other staffers described how guests were made angrier before their appearance on the show, a process known as "talking up", saying that "you need people the people that come on the show to be in conflict when you get on, when they're on the show".
Another producer said "the guests were treated like cattle. Behind-the-scenes they created a kind of maze. It's so if the guests run off the stage it's a controlled environment. The cameraman knows where to go. The guests won't be able to find their way out because it all looks the same".
The British government has now launched an investigation into reality television in the United Kingdom following the deaths of people who have appeared on tabloid talk and reality shows there.
UPDATE Tuesday 28 May 2019 13:18 - The second sentence of this article was amended with a new third sentence to indicate and make it clear that The Jeremy Kyle Show was not currently on ITV Choice but was a programme that used to be on the ITV Choice channel in previous years.