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Jeremy Kyle Bosses Admit Lie Detector Tests Were Unreliable

Jeremy Kyle Bosses Admit Lie Detector Tests Were Unreliable

MP's probed ITV bosses about The Jeremy Kyle Show this morning

Mark Cunliffe

Mark Cunliffe

ITV bosses have told a committee of MPs that lie detector test used on The Jeremy Kyle Show were not reliable and often produced the wrong results.

Guests who failed a lie detector test were also never told to go and take another test elsewhere in case it was wrong.

Creators of the show were also accused of 'exploiting stress' for the sake of entertainment. However ITV have confirmed they will be working with Jeremy Kyle again in the future.

The shock admission by ITV that the lie detector tests were prone to error - at a rate of '1 in 3' - was part of a Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) hearing into the duty of care provided by reality shows such as The Jeremy Kyle Show and Love Island.

The inquiry was set up after the suspected suicide of a previous guest who failed his lie detector test when accused of cheating on his partner.

Despite making a career out of grilling people himself in front of a live audience, Kyle, 53, had declined to appear before MPs to discuss the issue and could face sanctions.

Jeremy Kyle Show Often Used Lie Detectors.
ITV

A number of serious accusations were put to show makers, which included the fact that guests didn't understand the contracts they were signing and that background checks on the guests weren't performed to anywhere near the standard expected.

Their details were also shared with third party companies, such as insurance firms.

Damian Collins MP, chair of the House of Commons culture select committee, said executive producer Tom McLennan's lack of knowledge was "astonishing".

Graham Stanier, Director of Aftercare for the show, was asked how many people requiring aftercare had needed it because of the lie detector.

He said: "We explain it differently, what we would say prior to the show is that some people would fail the test but that what they'd said was true."

Mr Collins asked if people were sat down and told that the test could be wrong a third of the time if they become distressed.

Mr Stanier said he was always aware of that the test was not accurate, but that he didn't know the figures.

Around 1000 people applied to get on the Jeremy Kyle Show every week, the enquiry heard. McLennan denied using editing to manipulate stories and said that only 'three or four minutes' would be taken out of each recording to produce the final show.

The Shows Presenter, Jeremy Kyle.
ITV

Reporter George Bowden tweeted: "MPs say that guests are told Jeremy Kyle - whose catchphrases included "put something on the end of it" - would personally work to help them, a claim that now appears to be denied by ITV producer Tom McLennan. "It's misleading," one MP says."

TV critic Toby Earle, also tweeted: "Over at the Reality TV inquiry ITV & Jeremy Kyle execs are in with a committee; Tom McLennan has just been told, in regard to the use of lie detectors, 'You have a very, very unusual view of the concept of duty of care'"

Channel 4 News reporter Symeon Brown said: "MPs ask why no professional registered by the Health & Care Professions Council was part of the Jeremy Kyle team responsible for guest welfare (considering working with vulnerable adults). ITV bosses: hmmm... we'll have to write to you."

ITV axed The Jeremy Kyle Show after apparent suicide of a man who failed a lie-detector test.
ITV
ITV axed the show in May after Steve Dymond, 63, failed a lie detector test on the popular daytime chat show and was found dead in a Portsmouth flat 10 days later.

Jeremy Kyle is said to be 'devastated by recent events' following the death of Steve Dymon and the cancellation of his long-running show. It's opened a wider debate about reality TV shows and the care received by the participants.

Kyle told the BBC: "Myself and the production team I have worked with for the last 14 years are all utterly devastated by the recent events," he said in a statement. "Our thoughts and sympathies are with Steve's family and friends at this incredibly sad time."

Featured Image Credit: ITV

Topics: UK News, TV and Film, Celebrity, Interesting, UK Entertainment, Jeremy Kyle, ITV