ITV is facing growing calls to axe reality dating show Love Island after The Jeremy Kyle show was shut down following the suspected suicide of a grandfather.
The broadcaster announced on Wednesday that the controversial talk how would not return after Steven Dymond, 63, was found dead at his home in Portsmouth.
He had just days before appeared on the programme to prove he had not been unfaithful to his girlfriend. But was left devastated after failing a lie detector test.
And on Question Time last night, reality television was under scrutiny where panelists likened it to ‘public hangings’ and slammed it as ‘exploitative’.
It comes as former Love Island contestant Malin Andersson claimed the show should be scrapped, saying ‘the bad outweighs the good.’
Malin Andersson, a contestant on the 2016 incarnation of Love Island has led calls for the dating programme to be axed saying ‘the bad outweighs the good’
On Wednesday, ITV announced The Jeremy Kyle Show, which had been on air since 2005, was axed permanently
Steve Dymond (right) had appeared on the Jeremy Kyle show to do a lie detector test after being accused of cheating on his girlfriend Jane (pair pictured together, left)
It comes after ITV earlier faced criticism following the suicides of two Love Island contestants, Mike Thalassitis, 26, and Sophie Gradon, 32.
After which former contestants slammed the aftercare offered by the show, saying they have been ‘left on their own’ after exiting the villa.
Malin Andersson, a contestant on the 2016 incarnation of Love Island has led calls for the dating programme to be axed saying ‘the bad outweighs the good.’
Writing on Twitter, she said: ‘Do we have to wait for one more death before other shows are axed?’
She claimed that unless ‘extraordinary aftercare’ is put in place, it wouldn’t be right to let it continue in its current form.
Last night on Question Time, panelists were asked: ‘Do programmes such as The Jeremy Kyle show still have a place in society?’
Fans of the Jeremy Kyle show have hit out at ITV, accusing them of hypocrisy for failing to axe Love Island after the deaths of Mike Thalassitis (pictured in 2017) and Sophie Gradon
Ms Andersson was keen to have her say on ITV’s decision on Wednesday to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show after a guest was found dead a week after appearing on the programme
Ms Andersson, who appeared on the 2016 series of Love Island tweeted on Wednesday: ‘Can’t we just put in some extraordinary aftercare in place to prevent ANY deaths from occurring ever again’
Eilidh Douglas, the vice-chair of Amnesty International, said of reality television on Question Time last night: ‘I don’t think they ever had a place, it’s fundamentally exploitative of very vulnerable people in our society.’
To which Eilidh Douglas, the vice-chair of Amnesty International said: ‘I don’t think they ever had a place, it’s fundamentally exploitative of very vulnerable people in our society.’
She later compared the practice to ‘public hangings’, saying: ‘We have to set a slightly higher standard for ourselves and our broadcasters than just being voyeuristic and looking into the most vulnerable people’s lives.’
John Swinney, the deputy first minister of Scotland, meanwhile said the fast fame that comes from reality television can sometimes leave people in a ‘vulnerable situation.’
He said: ‘I think as a society, we should say that that’s not the way we want to have our television screens occupied.’
Also earlier this week, the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee launched an inquiry into reality television following the tragic deaths.
It is to consider the duty of care offered to participants of reality shows and explore whether enough support is offered both during and after filming.
Staff at The Jeremy Kyle Show’s office in Greater Manchester were reportedly ‘in floods of tears’ after hearing of its cancellation on ITV (Kyle is pictured)
Committee chairman Damian Collins said ITV ‘has made the right decision to permanently cancel the Jeremy Kyle Show’, but ‘that should not be the end of the matter’.
In a statement, he said: ‘There needs to be an independent review of the duty of care TV companies have to participants in reality TV shows.
‘This kind of TV featuring members of the public attracts viewing figures in the millions.
‘But in return for ratings, the broadcasters must demonstrate their duty of care to the people whose personal lives are being exposed.’
Staff at The Jeremy Kyle Show’s office in Greater Manchester were reportedly ‘in floods of tears’ after hearing of its cancellation on ITV.
More than 3,000 episodes of The Jeremy Kyle Show have been on ITV since July 2005, when it replaced Trisha Goddard’s chat show which switched to Channel 5.
Ofcom has said that despite the cancellation of The Jeremy Kyle Show it will still review the findings of ITV’s probe into the episode in question carefully.
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