Jeremy Kyle

Talk Show Host

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/7/2011 12:01:00 AM

Have you heard of Jeremy Kyle? That’s OK—if you don’t watch a lot of daytime television in the United Kingdom, you wouldn’t be expected to. But across the pond, his daytime talk show has been a hit for more than five years and has cranked out more than 1,000 episodes.

And now Kyle is coming to the States this fall. Syndicator Debmar-Mercury is importing the British host to do a new talker here, in hopes his in-your-face, rabble-rousing style catches on here the way it did on ITV in England, where he is a household name. With lie detectors and DNA tests liable to pop up from time to time, the often-combative format may just work, a la Jerry Springer. Funny enough, it wouldn’t be the first time Kyle infringed on Springer’s territory, as Kyle’s show actually once replaced a talker hosted by Springer in the U.K. on ITV, where it has since become the top-rated daytime show.

A guest, unhappy with Kyle’s combative style, reportedly once tried to throw a chair at the host during a taping. Sounds like he may need a bodyguard on set. And if his show works in the U.S., Debmar could even find itself launching a show in a few years starring Kyle’s heavy. Right, Steve Wilkos?