UK talk show suicide shines light on media exploitation of the poor

One of the UK’s largest TV channels has pulled the plug on a talk show after a guest died from suicide shortly after filming.

Steven Dymond appeared on the show in early May to prove to his fiancee that he had not been unfaithful to her, but failed a lie detector test.

His body was found at his home in Hampshire, England, on May 9, according to UK media reports. He is believed to have died from an overdose.

The death sent shockwaves across the UK and sparked serious criticism of the show’s format, which many said was exploitative of the poor and a breach of psychiatric ethics.

Typical of many western daytime talk shows, the show featured guests wanting to settle personal feuds and relationship problems in front of an audience that routinely laughed at, jeered and goaded those on stage.

Host Jeremy Kyle would play the ostensible role of mediator, but frequently chastised participants for their alleged drug use, anti-social behaviour and lack of employment.

“It shouldn't have taken someone dying for The Jeremy Kyle Show to be taken off the air,” wrote left-wing activist Ash Sarkar on Twitter, adding: “For nearly 15 years, it profited from exploiting addiction, poverty and human misery. It's a damning indictment of how deeply sadistic our society is when it comes to the poor and vulnerable.”

Former producers who worked on the show said the show’s staff worked to stir up tensions between guests backstage before they appeared on screen. 

Guest would regularly confront each other at first sight, shouting over each other and only prevented from coming to blows by the show’s burly security guards.

One Twitter user said the show made “zoo exhibits of the mentally ill”, while others compared it to a human version of “bear-baiting”.

With the show’s cancellation, many guests are now coming forward to relive their experiences. They said the experience was “traumatising” and that they were provided no counselling after their appearance.

Psychiatric professionals have also weighed in over the show’s use of lie detector tests, which they said were far from conclusive.

A piece written by Scisco media detailed how responses given under stress could be erroneously flagged by polygraph tests and thus misread as dishonest answers.