From 2005 to 2019, The Jeremy Kyle Show was a staple of British daytime telly, as it delved into the personal lives of participants, offering them DNA tests, rehab facilitation and lie detector tests in a bid to help get to the bottom of their issues.<\/p>\n

In 2019, however, the show was taken off air, following the death of Steve Dymond, who died of a morphine overdose and a heart problem in a suspected suicide 10 days after filming an episode, which never aired.<\/p>\n

Dymond went on the show to prove to his partner Jane that he hadn\u2019t cheated on her. However, he failed the lie detector test.<\/p>\n

In a new Channel 4 documentary, titled Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime, staff members and families of former participants have opened up about the reliability of the infamous lie detector tests.<\/p>\n

Former production staff members agreed to share their accounts on the documentary, but only if their stories were told via actors and their names remained anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been telling people for so long that, \u2018They are 97% accurate. I know that they\u2019re real. I know that they\u2019re right,’\u201d one revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you just made up whatever it was off the top of your head, so you\u2019d just go, \u201986 per cent\u2019 or \u201990 per cent\u2019 or whatever. No one really knew what the accuracy was,\u201d\u00a0 another said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think 99.9. I can\u2019t remember. 99.9 per cent, I think,\u201d a third said.<\/p>\n

In 2019, ITV bosses were made to give evidence before MPs at a reality TV enquiry.<\/p>\n

Senior staff involved in the show, including the managing director of ITV Studios, Julian Bellamy, and the director of entertainment, Tom McLennan, appeared in front of the culture committee.<\/p>\n

Asked about the reliability of the polygraph tests, McLennan said at the time: \u201cWe know they aren\u2019t 100 per cent, that\u2019s why we\u2019ve always been incredibly clear with the people coming on the show before they were filmed and before they took the test and the viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was then revealed in the hearing, based on the findings from Professor Ray Bull of Derby University, that even in perfect conditions with a trained expert using the machine, he believed the test was at best 66 to 70 per cent accurate.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the new documentary, a former staff member said: \u201cThat was one of the first times I ever felt like, \u2018Hold on a minute. Something isn\u2019t right here. I feel as if I\u2019ve had the wool pulled over my eyes.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cSome people would go away and pay for another lie detector and it might come out with a different result. They ring me up and go, \u2018I told you I was telling the truth.\u2019 You kind of just have to say, \u2018Oh, good for you. There\u2019s nothing we can do about it. It\u2019s not going to change the result of the show. It\u2019s not going to change how that show goes out.’\u201d<\/p>\n