Jeremy Kyle Show guest Steve Dymond ‘distraught’ after recording, landlady tells inquest

Steve Dymond appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show Credit: PA Media

The landlady of TV guest Steve Dymond has told an inquest into his death that he was “distraught” and a “broken man” after the recording of the Jeremy Kyle Show.

The 63-year-old, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is believed to have taken his own life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.

The Winchester inquest heard he was “booed” by the audience during the filming after a lie detector test suggested he had been lying about having not cheated on his partner Jane Callaghan.

Mr Dymond had rung ITV 40 to 50 times in “desperate” attempts to become a guest on the show, the inquest previously heard.

Landlady Michelle Thaxter told the hearing: “My connection to him, he come to stay with us for a few weeks, he was looking for somewhere to live, he had split up from his partner and we had a room.”

She said Mr Dymond had called her after they had advertised the room, saying he “was just a really, really nice guy”.

Steve Dymond had called ITV up to 50 times in a bid to appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show Credit: Family handout/PA

Mrs Thaxter added: “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.”

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.

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.”

Mrs Thaxter added: “He wasn’t a happy man and he wasn’t a well man, at times he could hardly walk.”

A statement issued on behalf of Jeremy Kyle said the presenter has been ‘exonerated’ by the inquest ruling Credit: PA

She said that after the show recording, Mr Dymond, in a “distraught” state, asked to stay again at her home.

“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," she said.

“He was crying, I have never seen a man crying like that, he was so upset.”

She said Mr Dymond had told her the audience had “booed” him, adding: “He said ‘Jeremy backed me into a corner’. Very uncomfortable.”

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”.

She added that she had told him to focus on his son, who he had just become 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."


Mental health help and support links:

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  • Crisis Support For Young People: Under 35s. Call Papyrus's Hopeline UK from 9am to 10pm weekdays and 2pm to 10pm on weekends. 0800 068 41 41. Text 07786 209697 or visit the Papyrus website.

  • CALM: The Campaign Against Living Miserably, for people in the UK who are down or have hit a wall for any reason. Call 0800 58 58 58 (daily, 5pm to midnight). Free, anonymous webchat with trained staff or visit the CALM website.


Mr Dymond had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and had taken overdoses on four occasions – in January 1995, twice in December 2002 and in April 2005, the court was told.

After his first application to attend the show was rejected because he had been diagnosed with depression and prescribed medication, Mr Dymond obtained a letter from his GP stating he had not taken the medication and his mood had improved.

He was subsequently assessed by mental health nurse Steph MacDonald employed by the show as suitable to appear as he had not “scored for depression” in her evaluation of him.

Mr Kyle defended his handling of Mr Dymond during the recording, saying he had tried to “de-escalate” the situation and added that the selection of guests and their aftercare “were not my responsibility, I was the presenter”.

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 added that Mr Dymond was “kind and caring and wouldn’t hurt anyone”.

The hearing continues.


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