Jeremy Kyle Show guests treated worse than criminal suspects in police custody, claims MP

An inquiry into reality TV was launched after the death of a man who had taken a lie detector test on the ITV programme

Guests on The Jeremy Kyle Show suffered worse treatment than criminal suspects in police custody, according to Damian Collins, the MP leading an inquiry into reality TV.

On Wednesday, the House of Commons culture select committee heard from two of the show’s former participants: Dwayne Davison, who became known as Kyle’s “most-hated guest” and Robert Gregory, who said the producers “crucified” him.

“I think someone in police custody would have more rights and better treatment,” said Collins.

The inquiry was launched after the death of Steve Dymond, a man who had taken a lie detector test on The Jeremy Kyle Show, and the suicides of two former Love Island contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon.

Dymond’s death led to the cancellation of The Jeremy Kyle Show in May.

The committee is investigating whether enough support is offered to reality TV participants during and after filming.

Davison, who first appeared on the show in 2014, told MPs he was locked in a small room and had his phone confiscated.

He told the committee he was exploited by the show, and that it “ruined my life” as he received death threats and lost two jobs after appearing on the programme.

Davison's requests to have clips of his appearance taken off the show’s YouTube channel were repeatedly rejected. “I asked them multiple times, cried, they weren’t interested one bit,” he said, adding that he had attempted suicide.

Gregory added: “There is no aftercare, it doesn’t exist.”

After the hearing, ITV said in a statement: “As a producer and broadcaster ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care to participants very seriously. Supporting the physical and mental health of everyone involved in our programmes is our highest priority.

“We were truly sorry to hear that Dwayne was experiencing mental health problems and suicidal thoughts and have apologised to him that we did not remove the clips from our official ITV YouTube channel. We have offered to pay for counselling, as he has requested.”