The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled overnight after the suicide of guest Steve Dymond, with the series’ host suffering a mental health crisis as his career crumbled and he faced dramatic health scare
Jeremy Kyle became a major household name for his dramatic TV show which saw some unbelievable spectacles play out on screen from affairs to addiction to paternity questioning. Now, according to Nigel Farage, the presenter is set to media train Reform UK’s candidates.
Starting in 2005, The Jeremy Kyle Show churned out over 3,000 episodes, with no shortage of people lining up to reveal their biggest secrets to the nation. Former radio star Jeremy, now 60, hosted the hugely successful ITV show for 14 years, but things changed in 2019 when crisis hit.
The series was suddenly cancelled overnight on May 15, 2019, after the suicide of Steve Dymond at the age of 63. Dymond appeared on the show and a lie detector suggested he’d been unfaithful to his ex-partner Jane Callaghan – he died by suicide just days later.
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The incident
While some people thought that his appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show might have led to his death, a full inquest began in September 2024. While Dymond’s son Carl Woolley said that the lie detector test was wrong and his dad had been treated badly on the show, a coroner ultimately said there was no “causal link” between the TV series and Dymond’s suicide, exonerating Kyle and his show.
Despite the official judgement, The Jeremy Kyle Show did not return to screens and Kyle, too, retreated from the spotlight.
Woolley tried to place blame on Kyle at the inquest, accusing him of being a puppeteer on set. “Jeremy Kyle had got the crowd to egg on, to boo at him and stuff, he was cast as the liar before he had even spoken,” Woolley said of his dad’s time on the show, after he died from an overdose of morphine and a heart problem at his home seven days after filming the programme.
In contrast, ITV boss Kevin Lygo said of Kyle: “He was devastated. He was really upset and obviously distraught someone had died who had recently been on his show and understood the decision. For him suddenly overnight to have lost the job he has been lorded over for 15 years, was a big jolt.”
Lygo insisted that Kyle shouldn’t be blamed for the incident and the host is said to have secured a payout of over £1 million from the ITV. A source told the Daily Mail: “ITV had to pay him. The contract was watertight and there was nothing which could be done about it. It was a huge amount of money.”
Jeremy Kyle now
In recent years, Jeremy is said to have been focused on his personal life, with the thrice-married star a father to six children. He has a daughter, Harriet, from his first marriage to Kirsty Rowley and three kids, Alice, Ava and Henry, from his second to Carla Germaine. He then proposed to Vicky Burton – who he previously employed as a nanny – in 2018, with the couple welcoming a son in 2020 and a daughter in 2024.
He has also made efforts to rebuild his career, and tried to develop another show three months after The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled. Like another of his shows, The Kyle Files, which was set to return in 2020, it failed to air. However, he has had some successes in his new projects; he’s been a presenter for Talk since 2022, and launched new channel TalkTV alongside Sharon Osbourne in his first TV gig for three years.
He admitted some of his close celebrity pals had been “disappearing”, but credited famous friends including Declan Donnelly, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Rob Rinderand Kate Garraway for standing by him and reaching out.
“There were lots who just never got in touch again even though we had worked together for so many years – it’s very, very telling,” he told The Sun. “Some people were brilliant – Piers Morgan reached out straight away because he’s that sort of guy.”
Health issues
Aside from taking time with his family and getting back to business, Jeremy has also been open about facing difficult health issues. Speaking in 2021, Jeremy revealed that he’d been suffering with depression and anxiety ever since the 2019 scandal, and was taking medication to help cope with both conditions.
Speaking to our sister title OK! magazine with wife Vicky by his side, he said in December 2024: “For two years it was horrific, and I had a complete breakdown. It was Vicky who dragged me out of bed. She saved me.”
Vicky said: “It was so hard to see my husband go through that, but I always knew it wasn’t his fault. It was a horrible time for all of us. I had to kick him out of bed and force him to do stuff with the family. No one thought he’d be like that. Only his family, friends and children knew — and we kept him going.
“Jeremy is not the scary person he’s portrayed as on screen. He’s gentle and kind and he wants the best for everyone.”
Discussing his show being axed, he said: “I was sitting on the loo when I got a call from ITV, simply saying, ‘The show’s gone’. And at that exact moment, my wife-to-be walked into the bathroom and said, ‘I’m pregnant’.
“I was in such a state for two or three days and it was Vic who pulled me out of it. She told me it didn’t matter what happened, we’d live with her parents if need be. She remained calm. In the moments I’ve really needed her, she’s been incredible.”
More recently, Jeremy appeared on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories and spoke about his 2012 testicular cancer diagnosis, sharing how he “collapsed” and “thought he was dead” when a doctor delivered the heartbreaking news.
Jeremy said that his testicle was “95% toxic,” and was told his cancer would have spread if it wasn’t taken out. The star said he was “very lucky” as he discussed having the testicle surgically removed and going through chemotherapy before going into remission.
Fortunately, the doctors informed him they had narrowly removed the cancer just before it spread. After going through several rounds of chemotherapy, Jeremy was thankfully later given the all-clear.
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