Jeremy Kyle's life now from cancer to depression and '£1million show payout'

Daily Mirror

22-04-2025

The Jeremy Kyle Show was dropped overnight after the suicide of Steve Dymond, and the series' host suffered a mental health crisis as his career crumbled before his eyes
Jeremy Kyle became a major household name for his eponymous TV show which saw some unbelievable drama and aggression play out on screen from affairs to addiction to paternity questioning. Starting in 2005, The Jeremy Kyle Show churned out over 3,000 episodes, with no shortage of people lining up to reveal their biggest secrets to the nation.
Former radio star Jeremy, now 59, hosted the hugely successful ITV show for 14 years, but things changed in 2019 when crisis hit. The series was cancelled seemingly overnight on May 15, 2019, after the suicide of Steve Dymond at the age of 63. Dymond appeared on the show and a lie detector suggested he'd been unfaithful to his ex-partner Jane Callaghan - he died by suicide just days later.
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While some people thought that his appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show might have led to his death, a full inquest began in September 2024. While Dymond's son Carl Woolley said that the lie detector test was wrong and his dad had been treated badly on the show, a coroner ultimately said there was no "causal link" between the TV series and Dymond's suicide, exonerating Kyle and his show.
Despite the official judgement, The Jeremy Kyle Show did not return to screens and Kyle, too, retreated from the spotlight.
Woolley tried to place blame on Kyle at the inquest, accusing him of being a puppeteer on set. "Jeremy Kyle had got the crowd to egg on, to boo at him and stuff, he was cast as the liar before he had even spoken," Woolley said of his dad's time on the show, after he died from an overdose of morphine and a heart problem at his home seven days after filming the programme.
In contrast, ITV boss Kevin Lygo said of Kyle: "He was devastated. He was really upset and obviously distraught someone had died who had recently been on his show and understood the decision. For him suddenly overnight to have lost the job he has been lorded over for 15 years, was a big jolt."
Lygo insisted that Kyle shouldn't be blamed for the incident and the host is said to have secured a payout of over £1 million from the ITV. A source told the Daily Mail: "ITV had to pay him. The contract was watertight and there was nothing which could be done about it. It was a huge amount of money."
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In recent years, Jeremy is said to have been focussed on his personal life, with the thrice-married star a father to six children. He has a daughter, Harriet, from his first marriage to Kirsty Rowley and three kids, Alice, Ava and Henry, from his second to Carla Germaine. He then proposed to Vicky Burton - who he previously employed as a nanny - in 2018, with the couple welcoming a son in 2020 and a daughter in 2024.
He has also made efforts to rebuild his career, and tried to develop another show three months after The Jeremy Kyle Show was cancelled. Like another of his shows, The Kyle Files, which was set to return in 2020, it failed to air. However, he has had some successes in his new projects; he's been a presenter for Talk since 2022, and launched new channel TalkTV alongside Sharon Osbourne in his first TV gig for three years.
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He admitted some of his close celebrity pals had been 'disappearing', but credited famous friends including Declan Donnelly, Eamonn Holmes, Ruth Langsford, Rob Rinder and Kate Garraway for standing by him and reaching out. "There were lots who just never got in touch again even though we had worked together for so many years - it's very, very telling," he told The Sun. "Some people were brilliant - Piers Morgan reached out straight away because he's that sort of guy."
Aside from taking time with his family and getting back to business, Jeremy has also been open about facing difficult health issues. Speaking in 2021, Jeremy revealed that he'd been suffering with depression and anxiety ever since the 2019 scandal, and was taking medication to help cope with both conditions.
"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," he told The Sun. "After Vic 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."
More recently, Jeremy appeared on Kate Garraway's Life Stories and spoke about his 2012 testicular cancer diagnosis, sharing how he"collapsed" and "thought he was dead" when a doctor delivered the heartbreaking news. Jeremy said that his testicle was '95% toxic,' and was told his cancer would have spread if it wasn't taken out. The star said he was 'very lucky' as he discussed having the testicle surgically removed and going through chemotherapy before going into remission.