Producers ‘smoked drugs with Jeremy Kyle’s guests’

PRODUCERS on The Jeremy Kyle Show allowed guests to get drunk and take drugs before appearing in front of the cameras, a programme has claimed.

One employee who worked on the show anonymously told Channel 4’s Dispatches that producers sometimes smoked cannabis with guests to “keep them happy” before filming.

Taxis paid for by the production were allegedly used on occasion for guests to meet drug dealers en route to the studio, a separate source claimed.

In another incident, a producer was allegedly told to ensure a guest took drugs despite the fact he had kicked his addiction, as it would mean a storyline on the programme became redundant.

The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled by ITV earlier this month following the suspected suicide of Steve Dymond, who had undergone a “lie detector” test on an episode.

Two former guests told Jeremy Kyle: TV on Trial, broadcast last night, that they had tried to take their own lives after appearing. Stacey Talley told the programme that she and her partner were told they had to go on the show despite changing their minds, while Dwayne Davidson accused producers of keeping him in isolation for hours.

One former producer, speaking anonymously, told the programme: “Sometimes producers would smoke weed with guests in the hotels the day before to keep them happy. They’d appease them in any way they could.”

A producer who made a behind-thescenes documentary about the show told Dispatches: “I would see cans of lager heading to the dressing rooms. They said it was going to the contributors who were appearing.”

ITV said claims the producers had taken drugs, forced addicts to take drugs or encouraged the use of taxis to collect drugs were “untrue”.

Alcohol was banned in the studio, the spokesman said, except for “a small number of guests going on to a residential rehabilitation programme after their appearance”. ITV said Ms Talley had been offered counselling and refuted Mr Davidson’s claims.

‘I would see cans of lager heading to the dressing rooms. They said it was going to the contributors’