An inquest into the death of Steve Dymond who died of an overdose after appearing on the Jeremy Kyle Show is is expected to conclude on Tuesday.
The 63-year-old, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is believed to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.
The Winchester inquest heard he was “booed” by the audience during the filming after a lie detector test suggested he had been lying about having not cheated on his partner Jane Callaghan.
The inquest was also told that after filming had finished, Mr Dymond had told a researcher: “I wish I was dead.”
During his evidence at the inquest, presenter Jeremy Kyle defended his presenting style, saying “it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest”.
Mr Kyle told Winchester Coroner’s Court that clips from the programme featuring the case of Mr Dymond and his partner, Jane Callaghan, showed he had “de-escalated… calmed it down”.
He also denied encouraging the audience to take against 63-year-old Mr Dymond, telling the inquest: “Not at all – I asked them to give them a round of applause.”
The court was shown a number of clips from the show, including Mr Kyle telling Mr Dymond: “Be a man, grow a pair of balls and tell her the goddam truth.”
Another featured the presenter asking “Has anyone got a shovel?” as Mr Dymond attempted to explain why he had been messaging another woman.
A further clip showed Mr Kyle saying: “The studio thought you were telling the truth, I wouldn’t trust you with a chocolate button, mate.”
– The Samaritans can be contacted on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
