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Original poster

To ask what made Jeremy Kyle qualified…

369 replies

ClandestineAdulation · 13/03/2022 21:09

… 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!

OP posts:
ClariceQuiff · 13/03/2022 22:13

That poor woman - Jane - looks absolutely broken - the contrast between her now and the pictures of her with her fiancé is desperately sad.

needmoreshinys · 13/03/2022 22:15

I believe he was picked because of his radio show, while he is the most popular, you had things like Trisha and Vanessa as well, I am sure there were a couple more as well,

Kanaloa · 13/03/2022 22:16

@SD1978

The entire show was the issue. Blaming him solely as the front man, is pathetic. They production team and the channel itself needs to be held accountable. It was poverty porn for the masses and the stupid. I don't for one minute believe that those who went on it didn't know what they were signing up for- the UK's version of Jerry Springer. It was an opportunity for 5 minutes of fame. To claim afterward you didn't know how the show worked....everyone did. The whole production team should be held accountable, not one man alone. He was vile, yes, and should be accountable, yes, but not alone.
Yeah I think this more or less. Inspired by the American shows such as Springer or Dr Phil. I know people like to say oh but Dr Phil was a doctor but the state wouldn’t even renew his license as they determined what he was doing on the show meant a license was unnecessary. These shows were never really about helping people, more of a sort of modern day freak show/sideshow to goggle at people.
Twentyn1ne · 13/03/2022 22:18

An old friend of mine went on it when she was 17 or 18, along with her decade older abusive boyfriend.

She had recently lost her mum in awful circumstances and was in a bad place, a very vulnerable and mixed up young girl.

She was being abused by the bastard she went on the show with and actually needed the counselling they claim to give the guests. She didn't get any.

All the show did was stoke the flames in an already turbulent relationship and exploit her for crass entertainment.

Somebody she knew recorded the episode and put it on YouTube along with her name and the town she lives in, she has never been allowed to forget about it despite having had nothing to do with the prick ex in over 10 years now.

Horrible show.

ButtockUp · 13/03/2022 22:18

@bonfireheart

Haven't watched the documentary, but didn't he host a show on BRMB radio as Jezza? Was always surprised he got picked up for TV.
Yes, I remember!

He held a rather nasty contest on his Birmingham radio show where people competed to win a wedding complete with money, despite the fact that the winning bride and groom never met!

Needless to say, they divorced not long after but Jezza went on , so I gather, to marry the bride himself!

Georgeskitchen · 13/03/2022 22:18

In the spirit of fairness I think they should bring out some people who they have actually helped and and turned their lives around x

OneTC · 13/03/2022 22:20

Are some mumsnet threads a bit J-Kyle?

👍

Kanaloa · 13/03/2022 22:22

@ClandestineAdulation

For anyone saying the blame doesn’t solely lie with Jeremy Kyle - I agree, there’s a whole team behind it but there still has to be a certain level of accountability.

If not JK, I’m sure they’d have found someone else to host the show, but morally, so much of it is wrong and it’s about haranguing the guests and humiliating them, and I don’t know how anyone could go along with that and have the repercussions on their conscience.

To my initial question though, what made Jeremy Kyle any different to anyone else? As far as I can see, he didn’t have any counselling experience or any great authority to be in the position of ‘power’ as his audience saw him.

It wasn’t about him being worthy of that type of power I don’t think but about marketability. He had already had a successful radio programme where he took people’s confessions and gave opinions, he obviously had the right personality for entertainment and the type of show they were making.

A bit like Karl Pilkington obviously wasn’t chosen for An Idiot Abroad because he was a good travel documentary maker who would educate the viewers on different countries and cultures. He was chosen because he had a successful job in radio, an amusing personality, and already knew the programme runners. TV personalities are usually chosen on how well they’ll entertain/fit a brief, not how much they care or how good they are as people.

SmallOrFarAway · 13/03/2022 22:23

I once went in the audience as a companion for a young adult with additional needs and a range of disabilities. One of her special interests was the JK show. She adored him for whatever reason. Honestly the man himself was horrible. He was rude to certain members of the audience, including my very visibly disabled/vulnerable friend and me, for no reason at all. Totally crushed her admiration for him. When he was not throwing insults he was totally silent, ignoring everyone present including crew, then as soon as the cameras rolled he was back to acting the big I am. One of the guests was a very clearly vulnerable young person who seemed to have some mental health problems, her aggressive narc mother, and the mother and JK persisted in talking down at the poor girl and airing all her very personal dirty laundry even though it wasn't relevant at all to the topic and was horrendous to watch. Crew were in the audience leading the boos or cheers and if we didn't join in enough they stopped filming and told us off until we did it enough or loud enough. We wanted to leave but told no, we'd signed something that mean we couldn't because of continuity. Obviously as an adult now I realise that of course we had the right to leave, what would they do, kidnap us and lock us in? But at the time I was young and intimidated.

I've no idea why he was chosen to host such a show, he had no people skills I saw, was basically a misogynistic bully, had no empathy for his vulnerable guests whatsoever, and came across as pretty dead inside and robotic. I can't believe the show lasted as long as it did. He shouldn't be getting any airtime at all. The only good thing about the experience was it opened my friend's eyes and thankfully she found a new special interest!

mummabubs · 13/03/2022 22:24

He was not a 'real' psychologist (which sadly is an unprotected title in itself). I think they called him one for the first few series and then got in trouble so just started referring to him as "the genius". He was a CBT therapist and as you said, baffling he'd have any involvement in this if he had an ounce of integrity as a therapist. One of my family members worked in an NHS mental health service at the time the show was popular and whilst they (obviously) didn't tell us any details I do remember them despairing at the number of referrals the service received for people who had been on the Jeremy Kyle show, been promised that "the genius and the team will fox everything" and then were offered literally one or two sessions before being farmed back into the NHS. Aftercare on the show was non-existent.

Tombero · 13/03/2022 22:25

Jennifer Saunders did a show called The life and times of Vivienne Vyle.

It never gets mentioned, but if I remember rightly, she nailed what was going on in this industry years before it was properly exposed.

I’ve been watching the documentary, it’s unrelentingly depressing watching the exploitation of some very disadvantaged people.

Kanaloa · 13/03/2022 22:26

Or how Dr Christian wasn’t necessarily picked because he was the right person to assist people in becoming healthier. I’ll make an exception for Jo Frost because to be honest she did seem the right person to be super nanny.

SoftwareDev · 13/03/2022 22:27

I think part of the aftermath of the tragic suicide sent ripples through tv.

Notice that ever since shows such as BGT etc no longer seem to feature awful auditions of people with clear mental illness/learning disabilities.

LizzieSiddal · 13/03/2022 22:29

I think ITV have to answer questions about this show, the whole thing was dreadful exploitation of mainly venerable people. It should never have been allowed to be put on the tele, we all know all they cared about was ratings and it’s disgusting.
I only watched half an hour of the documentary tonight as it was so upsetting.

TheArtfulBlogger · 13/03/2022 22:29

@Georgeskitchen

In the spirit of fairness I think they should bring out some people who they have actually helped and and turned their lives around x
Maybe they tried and couldn't find any
PutinIsAWarCriminal · 13/03/2022 22:30

Are some mumsnet threads a bit J-Kyle?

The pile on is.

"And you had kids with this man,why?" Is the MN equivalent of "you should've put something at the end of it".

Absolutely, or the very smug "why are your standards so low", to women who are clearly reaching out trying to get the strength to move away from their partner. Its the equivalent of throwing rotten tomatoes at the woman in the stocks.

The JK documentary is an eye opener. They were / are all manipulative bullies behind the scenes. JIimmy Saville, Elen DeG, JK, Simon Cowell.

MsJinks · 13/03/2022 22:31

I heard about the hotel from a girl I worked with exactly as described on here - she was a guest, but she had been lied to about who wanted to meet her on the show. She was very vulnerable and had been excited to go on the show, which then set her back a long way - awful. I also saw a local lad on getting slated and bullied but I knew he had learning difficulties and mental health issues - I couldn’t watch it after that. I can’t believe psychologists oversight body didn’t say anything to Graham!
In the interest of fairness I met a lady who went on one of the first shows, after applying for Trisha I think but getting JK - she said the aftercare was really good - I think the show got worse as they realised what the audience wanted, which is a sad indictment of society, but I would hope the aftercare remained of a good standard.

Octomingo · 13/03/2022 22:32

Didn't he do jezza's confessions on local radio around the early 2000s? I suspect that's why he was initially picked.

bonfireheart · 13/03/2022 22:34

Yes, Jezza's confessions. I remember as a teenager not being allowed to listen to it, so had the radio on really really low so my parents couldn't hear!!

listsandbudgets · 13/03/2022 22:36

I remember watching it years ago and was absolutely incandescent to discover it was sponsored by Learn Direct.. so government funded. I wrote and complained and got a letter back advising that the JK audience was their target demographic so it was justified Shock

Thankfully they paid more attention to a judge than me! Learn Direct withdrew funding

gingerhills · 13/03/2022 22:37

I used to work for a charity that dealt with very vulnerable people at a critical point in their lives. JK's production team rang us all the time, asking if anyone wanted to come on the show and offering money. We had a big notice in the office that read: If anyone from JK rings, tell them to F Off. But if our clients found out, they got upset as they wanted the money so badly and thought we were stopping them from getting rich.

Superbabe64 · 13/03/2022 22:38

It was a nasty ugly program...shame on those who ever thought of it and kept it on British TV for all those years.

Manekinek0 · 13/03/2022 22:41

That whole style of TV is incredibly manipulative. The chase and status music video for let you go comes to mind whenever I think of JK.

Stroppypeople · 13/03/2022 22:41

@Clarabe1

I think that Dr Phil is a massive cunt. I cannot stand him. Sitting there all morally superior. I hope we have seen the last of this sort of tv. It’s the equivalent of the Victorian freak shows. What is entertaining about exploiting vulnerable people? And we reach our kids not to bully… !
Exactly and that is why this programme was banned in our house…absolutely shocking programme…I couldn’t understand why this show was allowed to air !
AHungryCaterpillar · 13/03/2022 22:41

My sister applied to go on years ago when her son was a baby and her ex was denying being the father, she changed her mind but they kept calling her constantly trying to persuade her.