Treatment of Jeremy Kyle Show guests likened to 'Roman Colosseum'

MPs have condemned the Jeremy Kyle Show as a forum for tearing people apart in a “Roman Colosseum-type way”, as ITV executives tried to defend the treatment of participants in reality shows including Love Island.

The executive producer of the now-axed Jeremy Kyle Show said its host “strongly believed” in the results of lie detector tests that were a staple of the programme, while admitting that people who failed tests could have been telling the truth.

Tom McLennan told the Commons culture select committee’s inquiry into the treatment of reality show participants that he did not know how reliable the results of the tests were, and he said guests were told they were “not 100% accurate”.

Graham Stanier, director of aftercare for guests on the show, said: “Some will fail the test but be telling the truth. They do become distressed because they disagree with the result.”

Damian Collins, the chair of the committee, said: “[The results] are presented as fact. If you can’t say what the range of the accuracy of the tests is, that is irresponsible.”

Last month ITV cancelled the programme after 14 years following the death of a guest, Steve Dymond. The results of a lie detector test on the show had supposedly shown he was cheating on his fiancee.

“Jeremy did have a strong opinion about the lie detector,” McLennan said. “Jeremy has very strong views. To my understanding, he strongly believed in the tests.” Kyle refused to appear to face questions from the committee over Dymond’s death.

MPs rounded on the six ITV executives who did appear, accusing the broadcaster of seeking to exploit vulnerable people.

“You’re picking on members of the general public,” said Giles Watling, a Tory MP and former actor whose credits include the TV series Bread. “[You’re] tear[ing] them apart in public, which is part of the entertainment in a sort of Roman Colosseum-type way.”

The Labour MP Paul Farrelly likened ITV’s duty of care procedures to “putting people on a stretcher” after they had been exploited on screen.

ITV defended the Jeremy Kyle Show, saying 20,000 guests had appeared in 3,000 episodes, only seven had ever lodged an official complaint to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, and none of those complaints had been upheld.

“I don’t agree with the word exploit,” McLennan said. “Everyone was completely fully informed of [what to expect] on the show; 99% of people who came on the show were regular viewers.”

ITV’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, who has beefed up its duty of care policies for the latest intake of Love Island contestants, said the two examiners used to carry out lie detector tests claimed their accuracy was “in the 90s [per cent]”. However, she said ITV would not make a similar show using lie detector tests in the future.

“Jeremy Kyle, he knew they were not 100% accurate,” she said. “You are right to say that on occasion he would say: ‘This test says you are lying.’ He would use that. That was his style. Everybody who watched the show and people who went on the show knew what his style was. This show at its core was trying very much to resolve people’s issues.”

ITV was also taken to task over the accusations of portraying unrealistic body image standards with contestants on Love Island.

“They are all fit, healthy, young individuals because it is a dating show,” McCall said. “It is not I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! which is a range of celebs in all shapes and sizes. [On Love Island] they are all with the healthy range of body mass index or above.”