THIS is the moment a tragic Jeremy Kyle guest asked if a lie detector test was “accurate” in behind-the-scenes footage.
Steve Dymond, 63, was discovered dead at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, a week after filming the ITV show in May 2019.
He had failed a lie detector test after trying to prove he hadn’t cheated on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan.
Footage released today shows Steve preparing to take the test as a polygraph examiner breaks down how it will work.
He then asks the man, who was contracted by ITV, if the test is “99.9 per cent accurate”.
The examiner responds: “They are 95 per cent accurate.”
He then tells Steve “if you fail one question, you fail the lot”.
Kyle today defended his approach to the way he presented his show as he gave evidence at an inquest into Steve’s death.
He said: “I think that people who came on the show – I think the show had been on air for 15 years – and I believe the approach for conflict resolution was always the same.
“Yes, it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest.”
Referring to Steve’s appearance, he said he “de-escalated” and “calmed” the situation after the dad failed the lie detector.
Kyle added: “That’s what I always believed the show was about – conflict resolution.”
Asked whether he believed the way he interacted with Steve constituted “de-escalation”, he responded: “I think it was frustration that he wouldn’t stop lying.”
The presenter also denied Steve had been “humiliated” and said he had no involvement in the selection of guests.
He told the court in Winchester: “I do not and I have read over time apparently I called him a traitor, I didn’t, that he was cowering, I did what I always do and always did, it was what the show as I understood the show is, sad as it might sound, it was a typical part.”
The court was told Steve had been “desperate” to appear on the show and phoned up to 50 times.
He was rejected on his first application after disclosing he had depression and had been prescribed medication.
Steve was given the diagnosis in 1995 and he had taken overdoses on four occasions, it was said.
But he reapplied with a letter from a GP, which was reportedly “unusual” for the show.
A one-to-one assessment was then carried out with Steve and producers before it was agreed he could appear.
Kyle told the inquest he was informed of the letter and that this “enabled” him to go on the show.
He explained how he felt he had a “double security blanket” of the checks carried out by his production team and the GP letter to reassure him that Steve was an appropriate guest for the show.
The presenter also said he was not given any guidance by the production or after care teams that he should “modify” his presenting style for the tragic dad.
In footage played to the court from the episode, which was never aired, Steve admits that he lies to his ex-partner “for no reason”.
This included him saying he was in the Navy when they met when they were actually in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).
Steve says he wanted to go on the show to “get my whole life back” as he insisted he had not cheated on Jane.
After the failed lie detector result is revealed, Kyle tells him: “The test says you are lying, pal, you failed every single question.”
As boos are heard in the audience, a shocked looking Steve says: “I wasn’t, I have never been unfaithful.”
When asked if he had “egged on” the audience to heckle Steve, Kyle responded: “Not at all.”
The inquest heard previously how Steve called his son Carl Woolley on the day of filming and was “very upset”.
Steve claimed he had been “thrown under a bus” and was not given the chance to get his point across.
Carl told the court: “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.”
His son also told how his dad was adamant he had been telling the truth when he took the lie detector test on the show.
Carl said his dad remained upset in the days that followed and would call him up to six times a day.
As a result, he begged his dad to continue getting after-care support from ITV.
Steve died from combination of an overdose and left ventricular hypertrophy – thickening of the heart – on May 9, 2019.
He is suspected of taking his own life and police did not treat his death as suspicious.
The inquest continues.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
