Jeremy Kyle has opened up about losing his ITV show, which was cancelled in 2019 after the death of a guest, saying he believes he was 'scapegoated'.
The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed after Steve Dymond, 63, was found dead from a morphine overdose in his Portsmouth flat just 10 days after failing a lie detector test on the daytime show.
After pulling the show off air, ITV bosses eventually decided to cancel the programme permanently, saying it was 'the right time for the show to end'.
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Kyle, 56, has now spoken about spiralling into depression after the demise of his show, telling The Sun: "I used to think 'get a grip' when some celebrities talked about those sort of problems.
"But suddenly I realised first-hand you can't always do that. I never thought they would affect me like they did.
"That was a shock - but I've always said, 'If you have a problem, admit it, and then seek the proper help'. So that's what I did."
He explained that he was unable to leave the house with 'the whole country's media' outside his front door, and he eventually sought help from the doctor.
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Kyle continued: "I'm not asking for any sympathy, but being completely honest, yes, it was a very difficult time.
"I was completely devastated at first and then I became completely demotivated. Every ounce of energy seemed to have gone and I just couldn't bring myself to leave the house or even open the curtains.
"After Vic [his partner] encouraged me I eventually did go to the doctor because of how low I was feeling - and I've never done that in my life. But it was the only way I could get myself through.
"Critics will say I got a taste of my own medicine but I'd been through a fair amount up until that point - and I guess it all caught up with me at once."
Kyle, who is now launching a show on talkRADIO, believes he was made a scapegoat in the wake of Dymond's death, which was a suspected suicide, according to an inquest hearing - with a later pre-inquest review saying he died of a morphine overdose.
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Kyle said: "I don't want to sound 'woe is me', and as I've said the whole thing was a terrible tragedy - devastating for Steve Dymond's friends and family, of course, and for the many people who worked on the show.
"But it did hit me hard. And it's been awful to feel so scapegoated, and without being able to have my say about the accusations that often seemed to be levelled only at me.
"I've felt hunted and made out to be responsible for everything that ever took place around that show. But I was just the face of it.
"A hundred people lost their jobs that day, and I felt truly awful for them too and worried for their futures. But I felt completely alone. When I was told they were cancelling it completely, my first reaction was a sort of incredulous shock, and then really just devastation."
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He said many famous friends including Piers Morgan and Kate Garraway were 'brilliant', but claims many friends 'disappeared' and 'just never got in touch again' despite working together for years
He added: "It's a strange situation because you don't really want to talk to people when something like that happens, but then you're annoyed when they don't call too."
The presenter said he hopes the public will accept him for who he is with his new endeavours, saying the biggest things he's learnt is 'to have great belief in the British people'.
LADbible has contacted ITV for comment.
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