THE Jeremy Kyle Show trawled social media for troubled couples who wanted to take DNA or lie detector tests, TV bosses have revealed.

ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has admitted producers on the controversial daytime programme used Facebook ads to find guests with relationship problems.

She made the confession to MPs investigating reality TV after a spate of suspected suicides, including that of Steve Dymond who appeared on Jeremy Kyle to convince his girlfriend he wasn’t cheating – but died after failing a lie detector test.

Dame Carolyn said the show’s team did “shout outs” to viewers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and went on: “Other than aiming these 'calls to action' at our viewers and fans of the show, generally we did not target particular individuals, although some did specify people looking to take lie detector or DNA tests.”

Dame Carolyn said the lie detectors – polygraphs – used on the Jeremy Kyle show have an accuracy rate of more than 90 per cent.

But she admitted there had been an incident where a guest failed one on air but passed one using a different machine.

“We are aware of only one instance where a guest who had failed the lie detector test later advised the Jeremy Kyle Show that they had taken another test administered by a different polygraph examiner, which gave a different result. The episode was not transmitted again.”

Asked how many recordings had not been broadcast because of concerns over the guests’ wellbeing, Dame Carolyn said an “aftercare” professional had stepped in to drop 22 stories featuring 49 guests from the show during its 180 episodes.

“One was stopped during the recording of the segment, and the remaining 21 were dropped following the recording, due to issues relating to the welfare of the guests.”

But she said only seven guests had complained to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom about their treatment.

Damian Collins, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: “From the outset, our inquiry has been concerned that reality TV exploits people at a vulnerable point in their lives in order to maximise ratings.

“ITV has confirmed that in some instances The Jeremy Kyle Show used Facebook ads to find individuals who wanted to take lie detector or DNA tests. It is particularly concerning that the production team appeared to be specifically targeting people who were hoping to resolve a difficult personal situation. We’ve asked for copies of the adverts from ITV.”

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