Hypocrisy of TV host who trades in heartbreak
ITS tawdry combination of family feuds, cheating spouses and lie detector tests prompted a British judge to dub it ‘a human form of bear-baiting’.
But Jeremy Kyle has made a career – and a fortune – from the toxic parade of public confessions and angry confrontations on his daytime talk show.
And while ordering a media blackout over his own relationship, his decade-long stint as the host of The Jeremy Kyle Show has seen him interrogate countless couples about their relationship breakdowns, and even comment on his own marriage.
In June, while questioning a woman over whether she had cheated on her partner, he snapped: ‘I’ve had enough about talking about it. I haven’t had sex for ages myself.’
His show has been one of the most-watched daytime programmes since it launched in 2005, regularly attracting 1.5million viewers.
But he has been accused of exploiting vulnerable people trapped in dysfunctional relationships – although his supporters point to his guests’ willingness to air their grievances in public.
Outrageous titles like ‘My husband slept with my daughter’ and ‘My sister’s a teenage prostitute’ have proven enduringly popular with TV audiences and the show has also aired in the US.
That success has made millions for twice-married Kyle, a former salesman and radio DJ.
Last year, he signed a new three- year contract with ITV worth a reported £2million a year, which made him one of Britain’s highest earning daytime hosts.
Controversial from the start, the show gained notoriety in 2007 when security guard David Staniforth became the first person to be convicted of assault on a British talk show after head-butting his love rival, bus driver Larry Mahoney.
Staniforth was fined £300 and District Judge Alan Berg voiced his disapproval for The Jeremy Kyle Show, calling the programme ‘a human form of bear-baiting which goes under the guise of entertainment’.
Once voted the second most hated man in the world – ahead of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein but behind Osama Bin Laden – Kyle has defended his show for the ‘after- care’ offered to guests, including psychotherapy and drug addiction treatments.
‘More hated than Hitler’