A man who is believed to have killed himself after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show was “broken” and “wasn’t a well man”, his landlady has told the inquest into his death.
Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is thought to have ended his life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.
The inquest in Winchester heard he was “booed” by the audience during the show after a lie-detector test suggested he was not truthful when he denied cheating on his partner, Jane Callaghan. Dymond had rung between 40 and 50 times in “desperate” attempts to become a guest on the show, the inquest previously heard.
His landlady, Michelle Thaxter, told the hearing that Dymond had rented a room with her for about six weeks after he split up with Callaghan, but that he moved out when they got back together.
She said he “was just a really, really nice guy”, but that “he wasn’t a happy man and he wasn’t a well man. At times he could hardly walk.”
She added that Dymond wanted to go on the Jeremy Kyle Show to prove he was not cheating on his partner. “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.
“All he wanted was to get back with this woman, he absolutely loved her, he adored her,” she said.
After the episode’s recording, Dymond, in a “distraught” state, asked to stay again at Thaxter’s home.
She added: “The man was broken, he was crying. 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.
“I have never seen a man crying like that, he was so upset.”
She said Dymond told her: “Jeremy backed me into a corner.”
She told him to focus on his son, whom he had just reconnected with, resulting in him learning he had three grandchildren.
“I think he had many worries … he was a mess. I think he had dug himself into such a deep hole about everything and he couldn’t see a way out,” she said.
Thaxter said she last saw Dymond on 5 May and had been worried about him. Her son looked into their lodger’s room from the balcony and called her to return home, where she discovered that he had died.
Thaxter said she still received financial bills for Dymond. She added: “I think he was out to impress Jane, leading a life he couldn’t afford.”
Dymond was diagnosed with a depressive disorder in 1995 and had taken overdoses on four occasions, the court was told.
His first application to attend the show was rejected because he had been diagnosed with depression, but Dymond obtained a letter from his GP stating that his mood had improved, and a mental health nurse employed by the show assessed that he was as suitable to appear.
Thaxter’s son, Sam Kendall, said in a statement read to the hearing that Callaghan had split from Dymond because she “had found pictures on his laptop or computer that led her to believe he was cheating”.
Kendall said that Dymond was in a “bad way” after the show’s recording. She added: “Steve did tell me he was absolutely mortified at the way Jeremy Kyle spoke to him.
“He said he had still been in touch with the producers of the show and because of Steve having a heavy cold, the lie detector may have given a wrong reading.”
“He was worried about people finding out that he had been on the Jeremy Kyle show.”
The hearing continues.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
