To ask what made Jeremy Kyle qualified…

[ClandestineAdulation]

… to host a talk show, give ‘advice’ and judge people the way he did?

The Channel 4 programme about the show is on and it’s just made me think about it all again!

I couldn't watch the show as I felt he humiliated people. I could never understand why anyone would go on the show or why they'd take any notice of him, Mr know it all, horrible man.

@blubberball

Poor lady got his name tattooed on her

Indeed. WTF was that all about? Her fiancé commits suicide as a result of appearing on the Jeremy Kyle show. Then AFTER this has happened, she gets Jeremy Kyle’s name tattooed on herself.

@AlternativePerspective

He is vile, however everyone involved in that show has blood on their hands, and that includes the people who appeared on the documentary talking about how things worked behind the scenes. They were all there willingly. If any of them disagreed with how the show was being run they could have left and gone to work in Sainsburys. Or does getting into television mean that you don’t care what amoral shows you’re involved in?

People complaining that they weren’t mental health advisers but they regularly took calls from people saying they were going to end their lives, what did they do about it? Nothing.

And that girl at the end who predicted which producer was going to end her life when it was all over, and then claimed she was so upset about it, couldn’t have pictures of her up etc etc. If she knew how vulnerable she was why did she not support her while the show was running, rather than predicting her death and then claiming victim status over it?

And graham, he actually said very little, I’d imagine if he is registered with the BACPD they could presumably remove his registration.

The list goes on, but the accountability definitely doesn’t stop with Jeremy Kyle, he was the end product, but there were a lot of cogs which made him tick.

This and why is love Island still on? That's had 3 suicides in just 4 seasons. That's a worse stat than Jeremy Kyle but it's still allowed to continue, take people on the show then abandon them to the paparazzi after the show.

I don't think it was fully their fault on either of the deaths mentioned. From the sounds of it, Steve had stopped taking his medication just to go on the show. That's already setting a bad start to it, he shouldn't have done that. And he also had debts from what his ex partner said, I think the results unfortunately tipped him over the edge. He was close to suicide already, his ex partner knew that, he had said he was going to do it several times. No itv shouldn't have still let him on, but he had passed their standards of not being on the medication. They weren't going to care any further. If he had passed the results and then still eventually committed suicide, who is to blame then?

Kristie was a drug addict. She got help and managed 15 months of being clean, her family even went back on the show to thank them for their help. They were happy to have gotten more time with her. Unfortunately she decided to take drugs again, her addiction caused that, not the show. That can happen in even the best rehab centres, look how many times lindsay lohan has been in them. Or any other celebrity. It happens unfortunately.

Anybody can train to be a therapist. I did a counselling course myself and just because you get a certificate doesn't mean you should be responsible for other peoples lives. There were bullies on my course and I don't believe it changed them for the better.

JK was an obvious bully who wasn't brought to heel.

It was a disgraceful show.

@bakebeans

He was the front runner . The production team and ITV were the organisers. Not sure why people can’t see that really? Friends who went to the show report he was lovely with the guests and made sure they were ok and then changed when the camera were rolling. It was an act!

@bakebeans - yes Kyle was the front runner so he was supposed to act the way he did but he ramped it up over the years so he got an almost god like complex. The faux sympathy (our after care team will help you with your recovery) on the one hand and the berating anyone who'd had an affair, failed a lie detector test etc. The bullying behaviour by him as host wasn't nice but that's what the viewers wanted to see.

Of course the production team and ITV were the organisers but really it's very cheap TV to make, which is why the production team who had to get guests on the show were bullied so much into doing it. Like I said no one I knew would go on the show though they thought about it and apparently guests who were interested were then hounded by the production team and told half truths about appearing.

The tattoo? WTF! And the way she was smiling and proud of it! A very messed up lady.

Unfortunately a lot of people watched it as well, which is why it was on air for so long.

So, the fact that he was only the 'front runner' makes his behaviour acceptable? He was the face of the whole outfit and therefore representative of their contempt for their guests. There is absolutely no defence of any of their actions. They had all the power and executed it in the most despicable of ways, to impact the lives of people who had none.

Ten years ago my friend's brother (let's ca him M) went on the show. At the time he was unwell mentally and traumatised from an abusive childhood.
He wanted custody of his child and thought (in his disordered thinking) that the JK show was the place to air this.

Kyle screamed in his face (not unlike M's father used to do when he was child) and threw him off the stage telling him to make his own way home.

He shouted at him, belittled him and generally made him feel even more worthless than he already did about himself.

Ten years on he's coming through the other side and has made massive changes to his life. He has a great relationship with his child and spends regular time with him.

However he needed two years on intensive therapy to cope with the issues the Kyle show brought up for him.

That "aftercare"? Bollocks, it did not exist.

@LoisGriffinskitchen

Ten years ago my friend's brother (let's ca him M) went on the show. At the time he was unwell mentally and traumatised from an abusive childhood. He wanted custody of his child and thought (in his disordered thinking) that the JK show was the place to air this.

Kyle screamed in his face (not unlike M's father used to do when he was child) and threw him off the stage telling him to make his own way home.

He shouted at him, belittled him and generally made him feel even more worthless than he already did about himself.

Ten years on he's coming through the other side and has made massive changes to his life. He has a great relationship with his child and spends regular time with him.

However he needed two years on intensive therapy to cope with the issues the Kyle show brought up for him.

That "aftercare"? Bollocks, it did not exist.

I always thought the advice the JK show gave parents who were not allowed to see their children often it seemed on the whims of the mother was at best dubious,they would have been better off going to citizens advice bureau I remember watching a show where the dad wanted " custod of his child , he waa a bit of a Pratt and was clearly not going to get residency of the child ,but the mother was refusing any contact ,saying her and her new partner ,were now the parents The JK show just said they would continue help him fight for access Why didn't they just tell him to court ?

It's not called car crash TV for nothing. He didn't need to be qualified, he had a team of "experts" who told him what buttons to push and he pushed the buttons. The whole premise was to pull out the secrets and expose people for the publics amusement. Think Roman circuses. I don't know anyone who ever watched his show, because we are not the kind of people who delight in the misfortune of others, but there are plenty others out there who do. Pathetic really.

@AllOfUsAreDead

Steve had stopped taking his medication just to go on the show. That's already setting a bad start to it, he shouldn't have done that.

He should not have been encouraged to do that by anyone, and the organisation were irresponsible in encouraging this.

he had passed their standards of not being on the medication

He showed them an unopened packet of pills. They didn’t even follow their own rules with any rigour, and in any case he should not have been encouraged to come off prescribed medication to go on the show.

And he also had debts from what his ex partner said, I think the results unfortunately tipped him over the edge. He was close to suicide already

This is precisely why he shouldn’t have been allowed on the show and why individuals should be sufficiently vetted to ensure they are not vulnerable, let alone already on the brink of suicide.

@Dnaltocs

I’m confused. All the folk on the show asked to be there. No one was forced on the show. No one was forced to work on the show. Yet now they complain. The audience viewing figures were huge, massive viewing numbers. If the numbers were low it would have been cancelled. Now everyone seems to be against the programme that was a ‘show’ Those staff who now speak out, didn’t leave the show or speak out at the time. I’m still confused.

@Dnaltocs

Vulnerable people appearing on the TV – people who have almost certainly zero experience of working in television – have literally no idea what they're signing up for, and it hits them like a truck when it's already too late - from when they're being goaded and whooped up in the green room, to the audience being encouraged to almost 'bay for blood' when the guests appear. Nothing can prepare you for that, and it's toxic for anyone, let alone someone in a fragile psychological state.

Most people don't have the clinical knowledge or self-awareness to know - or predict - how they'd react psychologically in such a confrontational and highly-charged environment.

That's why we (should always) have qualified clinicians responsible for both safeguarding and participant welfare, because they know all too well what the likely fall-out will be. Contrast the JKS modus operani ^with the way participants were treated by the BBC and the Open University on Child Of Our Time. Poles apart. Over ten years, the production team regularly checked n with participants to ensure they were happy with how they were being portrayed and there was a comprehensive Duty Of Care protocol followed before, during, and (for some considerable time) after each series to ensure participants felt 'held'.

And don't even get me started on their 'Consultant Psychotherapist'. Jeez Louise...

The JKS** is ritual humiliation purely to stoke viewing figures. Tawdry Telly, made by charlatans for the likes of Madame Defarge and The Vengeance.

**See also Love Island to some considerable extent

I've only read the first page of replies so apologise if anyone has said this already.

It's dreadful that the gentleman lost his life BUT....

There were a great many (now forgotten) cases that had positive outcomes. Some were drug or gambling addicts who were given help and went on to live productive lives and not take drugs or gamble.

Jeremy himself has a gambling addiction but has been working on it for a great many years.

One of the reasons the show was started came out of Jeremy's successful nighttime radio programme he'd done for several years in Birmingham.

I do agree that 'the programme's production team' should have done more checks to ensure the guests could cope with some of possible outcomes of the tests/ investigations done but it wasn't fair for the blame to all fall on the shoulders of the presenter and no-one else.

@Harmonypuss

I've only read the first page of replies so apologise if anyone has said this already.

It's dreadful that the gentleman lost his life BUT....

There were a great many (now forgotten) cases that had positive outcomes. Some were drug or gambling addicts who were given help and went on to live productive lives and not take drugs or gamble.

Jeremy himself has a gambling addiction but has been working on it for a great many years.

One of the reasons the show was started came out of Jeremy's successful nighttime radio programme he'd done for several years in Birmingham.

I do agree that 'the programme's production team' should have done more checks to ensure the guests could cope with some of possible outcomes of the tests/ investigations done but it wasn't fair for the blame to all fall on the shoulders of the presenter and no-one else.

Everyone is to blame including JK. He was complicit to all of it by doing the show, by goading,insulting and abusing guests himself. By confidently and loudly proclaiming people liars when he KNEW lie detector results are only 66% accurate.

The end does not justify the means and collateral damage is not acceptable. The "feel good" and "success" stories were purely to give the show a hint of respectability and an excuse to hide behind. They weren't the majority of the stories,or what brought the money and the viewers in.

No he is not solely culpable. I've even stated this before. He is definitely culpable and complicit in the whole putrid shit show that (no matter how you spin it) ended with a human being taking their own life.

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip?
The willing guests must have realised after the first series that Jeremy might shout and get in there faces.
As for the documentary, typical one sided snippets of nothing of any relevance, a tiny percentage of unhappy former "wannabees' and absolutely no mention from the twenty thousand others who wanted the truth, DNA tests, free rehab and to be reunited with long lost relatives.
I watched and loved the show. As did many others.

@cazzy71

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip? The willing guests must have realised after the first series that Jeremy might shout and get in there faces. As for the documentary, typical one sided snippets of nothing of any relevance, a tiny percentage of unhappy former "wannabees' and absolutely no mention from the twenty thousand others who wanted the truth, DNA tests, free rehab and to be reunited with long lost relatives. I watched and loved the show. As did many others.

Wikipedia mentions viewing figures of about a million. Even if you assume that's five million people dipping in and out, rather than one million people watching avidly for a decade and a half, in a country of over 65 million that's still rather more people than not saying "no thanks", either because they're not around when it's on or because they prefer not to watch it. Take any single episode of Jeremy Kyle, and for every person that watched it when it was first on, there's 60–70 people who didn't. It got good ratings for cheap daytime filler.

Personally, I've seen infinitely more episodes of Jeremy Kyle than I'd prefer, because my preferred number would've been zero, but I've had to sit through a few episodes of it in a communal lounge, so I'm both able to criticise it and able to honestly say I wouldn't have chosen to see it.

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip?

Not surprising at all, unless you’re assuming there’s considerable overlap in the demographics of the people posting on this thread and the people tuning in to watch trash like Jeremy Kyle.

The willing guests must have realised after the first series that Jeremy might shout and get in there faces.
As for the documentary, typical one sided snippets of nothing of any relevance, a tiny percentage of unhappy former "wannabees' and absolutely no mention from the twenty thousand others who wanted the truth, DNA tests, free rehab and to be reunited with long lost relatives.

‘Willing guests’ that were often hounded and lied to by producers. ‘Willing guests’ that overwhelmingly came from a vulnerable population that otherwise lacked opportunities to access the services mentioned without subjecting themselves to public humiliation. How is that not grossly exploitative?

Mussolini made the trains run on time. Point being, ‘happy ending’ stories do not justify the abuse that was dished out. Mentally I’ll equipped individuals were wound up backstage then bought out in front of a baying audience to have a puffed up posturing gerbil scream in their faces. Meanwhile, the ‘psychotherapist’ that’s supposed to have a duty of care sat there and did nothing as people broke down mentally in front of him.

I watched and loved the show. As did many others.

Is that supposed to be a defence of it? People also loved watching public executions and best baiting. Still do in some countries. Unfortunately it’s a particularly unpleasant trait of the human species.

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip?

Don't forget that MN is a bastion of virtue signalling. "Never watched JK" is like "never go to Wetherspoons" or "my kids never tasted a coca cola"

The era of cruel television is over and it's coming back to bite them. The next show in the dock will be X Factor as lots of well known contestants are coming forward to talk about how badly they were treated.

I knew a young girl who got through to boot camp and she said they were subjected to sleep deprivation and producers would scream at them to get them to cry then film them.

@CatsArePeople

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip?

Don't forget that MN is a bastion of virtue signalling. "Never watched JK" is like "never go to Wetherspoons" or "my kids never tasted a coca cola"

Not having been a Jeremy Kyle viewer isn’t virtue signalling 😂😂😂😂

@Harmonypuss

I've only read the first page of replies so apologise if anyone has said this already.

It's dreadful that the gentleman lost his life BUT....

There were a great many (now forgotten) cases that had positive outcomes. Some were drug or gambling addicts who were given help and went on to live productive lives and not take drugs or gamble.

Jeremy himself has a gambling addiction but has been working on it for a great many years.

One of the reasons the show was started came out of Jeremy's successful nighttime radio programme he'd done for several years in Birmingham.

I do agree that 'the programme's production team' should have done more checks to ensure the guests could cope with some of possible outcomes of the tests/ investigations done but it wasn't fair for the blame to all fall on the shoulders of the presenter and no-one else.

@Harmonypuss - it'd be really interesting to speak to real people who after appearing on the show and getting 'help' went on to live productive lives and not take drugs or gamble.

Says it all really - physician heal thyself.

Sounds like your Kyle's wife or his production team to be defending him like this.

@cazzy71

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip? The willing guests must have realised after the first series that Jeremy might shout and get in there faces. As for the documentary, typical one sided snippets of nothing of any relevance, a tiny percentage of unhappy former "wannabees' and absolutely no mention from the twenty thousand others who wanted the truth, DNA tests, free rehab and to be reunited with long lost relatives. I watched and loved the show. As did many others.

@cazzy71 - if I was off work I'd watch the show. Friends of mine if they didn't work or before going to work they'd watch the show. I'm not going to say I loved the show because you did get a dirty taste in your mouth/on you from watching it but of course it got you gasping in shock when guests started fighting each other.

So basically they didn't watch the other shows (what was on BBC1 or Channel 4 at that time?).

As I've said before if you wanted to go down that route it gave you either a 'I'm better than you/at least my life's not that bad' or you passed judgment over the cheaters etc.

For me, I felt sorry for the addicts as who wants Kyle and his like berating them in one breath and then telling them we'll get you support and the help you need in the other.

And then Kyle having a go at the men or women who'd cheated when he did the same himself - what a complete and utter hypocrite.

As others have said, cheap TV filler and designed to plug the gap after Lorraine and GMTV (whatever the breakfast show was) and before This Morning - which is why lots of people on those shows are defending Kyle - because their TV programmes are not much better than Kyle - they appeal to a certain sector of society.

I've only read the first 100 messages so don't know if anyone has posted this yet. It's a 2010 music video by Chase and Status featuring someone remarkably similar to JK. So way back in 2010 it was well known what sort of a show it was and yet ITV let it continue.

@cazzy71

14 years of fabulously high ratings........... Yet now it seems NO-ONE watched the show? And those who did claim it was only the odd clip? The willing guests must have realised after the first series that Jeremy might shout and get in there faces. As for the documentary, typical one sided snippets of nothing of any relevance, a tiny percentage of unhappy former "wannabees' and absolutely no mention from the twenty thousand others who wanted the truth, DNA tests, free rehab and to be reunited with long lost relatives. I watched and loved the show. As did many others.

@cazzy71 - I think the willing guests saw it as a chance for their 15 minutes of fame and felt they could deal with Kyle.

I don't think most of them (who if you watch the documentary were often hounded to appear on the show) actually realised what live TV is like. And to get them on a show with only a sketchy idea of why they're on there, have them stay in the same hotel and get TV production staff to wind them both up by relaying stories between them, free bar, waking them up early to be on the show so they'd look dishevelled.

It'd be a very different story if the above hadn't happened.