Jeremy Kyle reveals he’s lost a stone and a half in 7 days since Steve Dymond inquest

Jeremy Kyle has revealed he has lost a lot of weight over the last week following the inquest into the death of Steve Dymond.

The 59-year-old presenter has opened up on the impact the death of Dymond, a former guest on his controversial ITV daytime show, has had on his own mental health.

Dymond took his own life aged 63 in May 2019, and earlier this week an inquest at Winchester’s Coroner’s Court found that neither Jeremy nor ITV caused his death.

The former Jeremy Kyle Show host revealed he has lost a stone over the past seven days during the inquest, and became emotional as he talked about the tragedy.

‘What happened was a tragedy, but to blame other people is wrong,’ he told The Sun. ‘Let’s not forget first and foremost somebody took their life because they were in a position where they saw no way out.

‘I haven’t spoken for five years out of respect because there was a legal process that dragged on and on for many reasons.’

The broadcaster insisted the conversation she ‘never have been about’ him, but rather Dymond and his family, as well as the ‘hundred people that worked on the show who lost their jobs overnight’ as a result of the backlash following the death.

Kyle acknowledged the ‘criticism’, and admitted it’s natural to ‘probably question’ yourself in the wake of such a tragedy, while he ‘didn’t get everything right’ all the time.

However, he added: ‘But my conscience is clear. The coroner was right in that there was nothing I did or could have done to stop this tragedy.

‘I was presenting a show. Steve had been cleared to appear by both ITV’s aftercare team and his own GP.’

He described the way ‘everybody piled in’ as ‘wrong’, insisting that he’s had plenty of support to help him through the backlash.

He said: ‘But you know what? NO bitterness, NO anger, NO resentment, NO revenge, NO victim mentality. We all just need to get on as best we can.’

On Tuesday, coroner Jason Pegg ruled out Dymond’s treatment on the ITV programme as a contributory factor to his death, stating: ‘There is insufficient evidence for me to be satisfied that this was the direct cause of Steve’s death.’

After the result of the inquest was announced, lawyers for Kyle said in a statement: ‘His Majesty’s Coroner has today clearly and unequivocally found that Jeremy Kyle did not in any way cause or contribute to the tragic suicide of Steve Dymond. He is now exonerated of that ill-informed accusation and his name has finally been cleared.

‘Out of respect for the family of Mr Dymond and the judicial process, Jeremy has always maintained that it would be inappropriate to discuss details whilst the legal inquest was ongoing and he has remained steadfastly silent in the face of lies, false accusations and unfair criticism over the last 5 1/2 years.

‘This has taken a huge toll on him and his family and he would like to thank everyone who has truly supported him through these tough times.’

The coroner concluded at the inquest that Dymond had died by ‘suicide’, stating: ‘The deceased’s decision to take his own life was made in the context of his mental distress that was probably exacerbated by his belief that a significant relationship had now irretrievably broken down following his participation on a television programme where it had been suggested that the deceased had lied to his partner.

The coroner added that Dymond had left notes for his family, stating: ‘There is nothing in those notes where Mr Dymond is critical of his treatment by the show.’

Pegg dismissed The Jeremy Kyle Show as a ‘direct cause of Steve Dymond’s distress’, stating: ‘These accounts are not supported with any independent expert evidence to evaluate the impact of his treatment on the show.’

Following the conclusion of the inquest, a solicitor for Dymond’s family read a statement from his son, Carl Woolley.

‘It has been five years since my father died. In my view anyone watching the clips of the show would see that he was in tears, and spoken to in the most brutal way by Jeremy Kyle,’ the statement read.

‘The coroner has recorded that the lie detector test, in which Jeremy Kyle believes in so strongly, can have an accuracy of 60-96%. The only good thing that came from my father’s death is that The Jeremy Kyle Show is cancelled.’

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