Jeremy Kyle defends 'direct' approach to Steve Dymond who called show '50 times' to appear

Jeremy Kyle has defended his approach to the way he presented his shows, telling an inquest into Steve Dymond's death: "Yes, it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest."

Appearing at Winchester Coroner's Court on Thursday, Mr Kyle added: "I think that people who came on the show - I think the show had been on air for 15 years - and I believe the approach for conflict resolution was always the same. Yes, it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest."

Referring to Mr Dymond's case, Mr Kyle added: "I de-escalated, I calmed it down and I put them backstage. That's what I always believed the show was about - conflict resolution."

Asked whether he believed the way he interacted with Mr Dymond constituted "de-escalation", Mr Kyle responded: "I think it was frustration that he wouldn't stop lying."

Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is believed to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the Jeremy Kyle Show in May 2019.

He had taken a lie detector test for the programme after being accused of cheating on his partner, Jane Callaghan.

In clips from the show recording shown in court, Mr Dymond says he had wanted to come on the show because he "wanted to get my whole life back". He adds to Mr Kyle: "I must have called your show 40 or 50 times, leaving voice messages."

In the recording, Mr Kyle says 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."

Then after revealing the result of the lie detector test, Mr Kyle says: "The test says you are lying, pal, you failed every single question."

The clip shows Ms Callaghan bursting into tears with boos being heard from the audience and Mr Dymond looking shocked as he says: "I wasn't, I have never been unfaithful."

Mr Kyle says: "The studio thought you were telling the truth, I wouldn't trust you with a chocolate button mate."

Mr Kyle denied encouraging the audience to take against Mr Dymond, telling the court: "Not at all, I asked them to give them a round of applause."

He said: "The production, the producing, the after care, the lie detector test were not my responsibility, I was the presenter."

Mr Kyle said he had created a persona for the show but had not been trained in handling emotional guests. He said: "The show developed, it was a character, a part, by understanding that from day one as I keep saying, it's conflict resolution so it involved many aspects of many stories and many different approaches."

Rachel Spearing, counsel to the inquest, asked Mr Kyle: "Do you believe he was humiliated?"

He replied: "I do not and I have read over time apparently I called him a traitor, I didn't, that he was cowering, I did what I always do and always did, it was what the show as I understood the show is, sad as it might sound, it was a typical part.

"It was a show with my name on it, with a production team and an after care team behind it."

The inquest continues.

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