Jeremy Kyle guest branded 'ex-drug dealer in a tracksuit' by host claims producers told him to change into outfit

Gareth Edwards turned up to the studio wearing a jumper but was told to change into a tracksuit because it carried a prominent logo

Gareth Edwards claims The Jeremy Kyle Show asked him to change into a tracksuit (ITV/The Jeremy Kyle Show)

A Jeremy Kyle guest has criticised the show for telling him to wear a tracksuit before being branded an “ex-drug dealer in a tracksuit” by the host.

Evans’ girlfriend Charmaine Wright, 21, also claimed the show’s staff had been manipulative, “egging” the pair on backstage.

Evans told the Mail Online: “[Jeremy Kyle] slated me for the tracksuit but it was his tracksuit so he slated himself. I wanted to go on the show to be sure Damien was mine, but we 100 per cent regret it. I only went on the show for my son.”

ITV said Edwards brought the tracksuit himself and did not object to being asked to change into it.

A spokesperson for ITV said: “A guest arrived for their appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show wearing an item of clothing featuring a logo on the front. In accordance with OFCOM regulations we asked him to change his clothes so the logo could not appear on air. The guest changed into a different outfit of his own clothes. We would have been happy to supply alternative clothing had this been requested.”

The Jeremy Kyle Show has previously been criticised by former guests for “human bear-baiting”. Past contributors told The Guardian in 2011 that different family members were placed in separate rooms and “wound up” by separate researchers before appearing on the show.

Chris Lyons, who was 17 when he went on Jeremy Kyle, said: “They kept coming in and saying, ‘Your mum said this about you. Your mum said you were a dirty crackhead.’ Some of the stuff they told me, I thought, ‘My Mum doesn’t even talk like that, my mum would never say that.’”

Read more: Jeremy Kyle show left teenager 'distressed and humiliated' during rant, says Ofcom