Jeremy Kyle has confessed that he suffered from crippling anxiety that prevented him from leaving his house for four months as he spoke up about his mental health issues.
The 58-year-old broadcaster previously stated that he sought professional treatment following the cancellation of his contentious talk show in 2019 following the suicide death of participant Steve Dymond.
Kyle, who recently announced his sixth kid, commented on his mental health concerns on Wednesday’s TalkTV show Talk Today, urging people who are suffering to speak out.
During a conversation with Peter Andre, who is campaigning to break the stigma around men’s mental health, Kyle said: ‘We’ve talked privately, and personally, I had a stage for four months where I couldn’t leave the house, couldn’t get out of bed and was made to go to a doctor and it opens up the whole thing.
‘I think people worry it would make you look weak or in the business you would probably be assumed to be whatever – my concern is and it’s not a very popular concern but I just want to make the point to you is absolutely people should talk.
‘I worry that we’ll get to a point where people will use it in some instances.’
Peter, who admitted to struggling with mental health in the 1990s when he rose to fame with the song Mysterious Girl, emphasised the need of seeking treatment.
He said: ‘The point is that you’re not broken. It’s just something that’s going on. We talk so much about guys, especially saying, “If you see anything – a little lump or anything, go and get it checked up.”
‘They say that about a physical state but they never talk about if you’re not feeling right mentally.’
According to the Office for National Statistics, suicide is the leading cause of death in men under the age of 50, accounting for almost 75% of all suicide fatalities each year.
Charity Every 10 seconds, the Samaritans respond to a plea for aid, yet regrettably, someone dies by suicide in the United Kingdom alone every 90 minutes.
Kyle previously discussed his mental health in 2021, saying he was ‘absolutely saddened’ by the discontinuation of The Jeremy Kyle Show.
He told The Sun: ‘I used to think “get a grip” when some celebrities talked about those sort of problems.
‘But suddenly I realised first-hand you can’t always do that. I never thought they would affect me like they did.
‘That was a shock — but I’ve always said, “If you have a problem, admit it, and then seek the proper help”. So that’s what I did.’
Jeremy stated that he felt’scapegoated’ and ‘hunted’ when the programme was cancelled due to the death of a competitor, as he was the ‘face’ of the production.
While many of his friends and colleagues distanced themselves from him following the incident, he lists Piers Morgan, Kate Garraway, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, Rob Rinder and Dec Donnelly as individuals who stuck by him and sought out to him.
He added: ‘I stand by something I wrote in my book — “if you put yourself out there and it goes wrong, you have to face up to that”. I took the big salary money and all the perks. If I had wanted to swap it for a conventional nine-to-five job, I could have done.
‘So I get that people wanted to have a go at me. But it did start to feel like a massive pile-on and one I’ve never really been allowed to have my say on.’
Kyle joined TalkTV in October after covering for Piers Morgan on the network throughout the summer.
Talk Today airs Monday to Friday from 6am to 9.30am on Freeview 237, Sky 522 and Virgin Media 606.
Need support for your mental health?
You can contact mental health charity Mind on 0300 123 3393 or text them on 86463.
Mind can also be reached by email at info@mind.org.uk.
Source My Celebrity Life.