A man who took his own life after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show was left “distraught” and “broken” after returning from filming, an inquest has heard.
Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in May 2019, seven days after taking part in the show.
A coroner found he had died of a combination of a morphine overdose and a heart condition.
Mr Dymond had taken a lie detector test for the ITV programme after being accused of cheating on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan, and was “booed” by the audience during filming.
Following his death, the episode was not aired, and the series was later cancelled.
Mr Dymond had rung ITV 40 to 50 times in “desperate” attempts to become a guest on the show, the inquest previously heard.
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Landlady Michelle Thaxter told the Winchester hearing he had taken a room in her home after splitting from his partner, describing him as “just a really, really nice guy”.
Mrs Thaxter said: “He said he had split up from his partner and he was staying in a hotel, and it was costing him a lot of money.”
When reading a text message during the hearing sent by Mr Dymond stating that he had woken her and her son up after taking an overdose on 31 March, she said that she was “shocked” and added: “It didn’t happen.”
Mrs Thaxter said that he initially stayed at her home in Portsmouth for about six weeks before he moved out after getting back together with Miss Callaghan.
Going on the show was a ‘stupid’ decision
She added: “He had mentioned before about going on the Jeremy Kyle Show and my words were to him that I think it’s stupid because he could hear things he didn’t want to hear, but it wasn’t my business.”
He said he wanted to go on the show “because Jane thought he was sleeping or seeing some other woman, but he wanted to prove, tell her that he wasn’t, my opinion, I don’t think he was.
“He really did love her but he wanted to prove to her that he wasn’t lying.”
She continued: “All he wanted was to get back with this woman, he absolutely loved her, he adored her.”
“He wasn’t a happy man and he wasn’t a well man, at times he could hardly walk.”
She said that after the show recording, Mr Dymond, in a “distraught” state, asked to stay again at her home.
Mrs Thaxter said: “He said he failed the lie detector test and he said he felt when he was in the taxi he was going to jump out of the taxi and take the [prescribed medication].
“You can’t say no to someone when they are so distressed. It scared me that someone could feel like that, it was horrible.”
She added: “He was distraught, the man was broken, he was crying.
“He literally had nowhere else to go, he said he had called his mum but she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
“He was crying, I have never seen a man crying like that, he was so upset.”
She said Mr Dymond told her that he was upset by “how he was treated on the show, he was saying he had told too many lies”.
‘He couldn’t see a way out’
She added that she had told him to focus on his son, who he had just reconnected with and found out he had three grandchildren.
She continued: “It was all about Jane, ‘I didn’t lie’, he was just distraught, I have never seen someone so upset about everything.
“A lot of it was to do with the show, with Jane, with his family, I think he had many worries, it’s all life, he was a mess.
“I think he had dug himself into such a deep hole about everything and he couldn’t see a way out.”
Mrs Thaxter said she last saw Mr Dymond on 5 May and had become worried until her son looked into their lodger’s room from the balcony and saw him and called her to return home.
She said she could immediately see he was dead and called the emergency services.
Mrs Thaxter’s son Sam Kendall said in a statement read to the hearing that Ms Callaghan had split from Mr Dymond because she “had found pictures on his laptop or computer that led her to believe he was cheating”.
Mr Kendall said that Mr Dymond was in a “bad way” after the show recording and added: “Steve did tell me he was absolutely mortified at the way Jeremy Kyle spoke to him on the show.
“He said he had still been in touch with the producers of the show and because of Steve having a heavy cold the lie detector may have given a wrong reading.”
He added that Mr Dymond was “kind and caring and wouldn’t hurt anyone”.
Rachel Spearing, counsel to the inquest (CTI), said the incident log produced by Hampshire Police stated officers had been informed by paramedics that Mr Dymond had been “deceased for approximately two days” when his body was found on 9 May.
Jeremy Kyle: ‘I didn’t belittle or humiliate him’
Earlier this week, presenter Jeremy Kyle defended both his chat show and his presenting style, telling the court he neither “humiliated” nor “belittled” Mr Dymond, and insisting he instead “de-escalated” and “calmed” the situation.
He also made clear he was “not involved in the selection of guests” on his TV show, and was “employed absolutely as the presenter,” and nothing more.
The Jeremy Kyle Show first aired in 2005 and ran for 17 series before it was cancelled on 10 May 2019, the day after Mr Dymond’s death.
The hearing continues.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
