Jeremy Kyle Show guest ‘did not score for depression’ in assessment

A mental health nurse working for the Jeremy Kyle Show said Steve Dymond was “upbeat” when she assessed him to appear on the show and added he “did not score for depression”.

Steph MacDonald, who worked as an aftercare mental health nurse for the show from 2008 to 2019, said part of her role was to assess guests who had a “history of self-harm, depression, anything worrying and vulnerability”.

Describing her interaction with Mr Dymond to Winchester Coroner’s Court, she said: “The first time he was referred to me I didn’t speak to him because I declined him.”

She said that for his second application to be on the show, supported by the letter from his GP, she interviewed him on the telephone during which he was “very confident and upbeat”.

He didn't score for depression at all from what he was telling me

Ms MacDonald said: “Mr Dymond told me that he was diagnosed with depression a few months ago and general relationship problems with his partner.

“He never took the tablets, he told me it was stress at the time, he didn’t describe any biological signs of depression.”

She said that she had not been informed of his referral to the acute mental health team in March 2019 and he did not tell her of any previous self-harm incidents.

She added: “He didn’t score for depression at all from what he was telling me.”

Ms MacDonald said that Mr Dymond was the first guest that she had experienced who had been rejected for the show to then return with a GP’s letter for a second application.

She said: “There weren’t any issues, he never told me of any referrals or any of the issues we later found out about.”

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