Is Jeremy Kyle The Victim? Former ITV Host Breaks Silence Two Years After Show's Cancelation

By Liz Rowe

Two years later, Jeremy Kyle has opened up about having his talk show suspended a week after a participant died.

The famous talk show host told The Sun how he felt too depressed to leave the house after ITV suspended his show indefinitely in May 2019 and was even diagnosed with anxiety disorder.

"I used to think 'get a grip' when some celebrities talked about those sort of problems. But suddenly I realised first-hand you can't always do that, I never thought they would affect me like they did."

The 56-year-old Brit said he doesn't want to sound "woe is me," however, he confessed that what happened to Steve Dymond was a "terrible tragedy" and "devastating" for his friends, family, and those who worked on the show.

Dymond is believed to have committed suicide less than a week after failing a lie detector test while filming an episode for the show. That episode didn't make it live.

Kyle confessed feeling "hunted" by what has happened, and he knows he is responsible for everything that happened on the show. So he had just had to face it, especially after losing his job on "The Jeremy Kyle Show," which had been running since 2005.

"A hundred people lost their jobs that day, and I felt truly awful for them too and worried for their futures. But I felt completely alone."

He also felt "scapegoated" over the death of his show's participant, adding that the claims "often seemed to be levelled only at me."

As soon as the scandal hit, many stars and senior executives immediately distanced themselves from him.

What Happened to Steve Dymond?

Dymond reportedly died of a morphine overdose and a heart problem at his house in Hampshire.

On the show, Dymond "failed" a lie detector test for the show whether he had cheated on his ex-fiancee, Jane Callaghan.

His family claim that his appearance on the show became too much for him to cope with.

Will Jeremy Kyle's Show Return?

Following the show's cancellation, the MPs launched an inquiry into the reality TV show.

Early this year, chief executive of the network ITV Dame Carolyn McCall told BBC's "The Media Show" that they were "looking at" canceling Jeremy Kyle's show before it being pulled from the schedule.

She also said that Kyle wouldn't be returning to ITV.