ITV axes The Jeremy Kyle Show PERMANENTLY

ITV today permanently axed The Jeremy Kyle Show after a grandfather was found dead just a week after being filmed for the controversial programme.

Network chief Carolyn McCall admitted it was 'the right time for the show to end' given the 'gravity of recent events' after an outcry followed the death of Steven Dymond, 63, with MPs having urged the broadcaster to pull the programme.

Mr Dymond took a lie-detector test on May 2 to convince fiancée Jane Callaghan he had been faithful, but was told he had failed. His body was found in his Portsmouth flat a week later on May 9 where he had been dead for days.

More than 3,000 episodes of The Jeremy Kyle Show have been shown on ITV since July 2005, when it first replaced Trisha.

The show has attracted legions of loyal fans over 14 years for its argumentative discussions about sex and addiction in front of a studio audience - but it has been slammed as 'bear baiting' and spawned a string of complaints from guests. 

These included Dwayne Davison, 27, of Nottingham, who tried to kill himself after being publicly shamed; Harry Henson, 30, of North London, who was disowned by his family after being allegedly falsely accused of theft; and Gulf War veteran Fergus Kenny, 49, of Leicestershire, who had PTSD and was 'made to feel like a scumbag'. 

Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman called the death 'deeply concerning', while MPs on an influential Commons committee will discuss the case today. 

ITV's This Morning host Holly Willoughby described the death and show's end as a 'terrible shock' for The Jeremy Kyle Show team, while Kyle's Good Morning Britain colleague Piers Morgan defended him as a 'great guy and an excellent broadcaster'. 

While today's decision was immediately met by a backlash from some viewers furious that it had been pulled after 16 series because of the death, many had called for the top-rated ITV show to be axed over concerns it preyed on the vulnerable. 





MailOnline