Kyle show 'wrong' to reveal ID

Jeremy Kyle's show has been criticised before for its content

The Jeremy Kyle Show is a "modern day freak show" which must stop revealing the identity of babies' parents on air, an MP has said.

Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, who has launched a campaign against paternity tests on TV, told the Commons the practice was "plain wrong".

She said it was likely children would one day find out about their DNA tests.

ITV said the show adhered to the Ofcom broadcasting code, and its rules and guidance on protecting the under-18s.

They serve up damaged people and dysfunctional relationships for entertainment Kerry McCarthy MP

Ms McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, told the Commons that on shows like Jeremy Kyle, couples sometimes "aired their dirty linen in public" with the matter then "being resolved with the result of a DNA test being announced live on air".

"They serve up damaged people and dysfunctional relationships for entertainment," she added.

"It's the modern day equivalent of the freak show."

Episodes of the programme included one with the title Brother, I'll Prove I'm the Father of Your Ex-Girlfriend's Baby, she added.

She said the chances of the babies in question growing up and finding out what had happened was "fairly high".

'Exceptional cases'

"People in their neighbourhoods won't forget about it, their future schoolmates will find out about it," Ms McCarthy said.

The Jeremy Kyle Show is a talk show, it is about conflict resolution ITV spokesman

"They risk humiliation, bullying, feeling rejected, feeling hurt."

A spokesman for ITV said the show took the wellbeing of its guests and their children "very seriously indeed".

"The Jeremy Kyle Show is a talk show, it is about conflict resolution," he said.

"Our guests air their views in the hope of finding a solution to their problems and we have a proud record of helping them do that on the programme and in conjunction with our aftercare team, which provides professional support and guidance and helps them access other services."

DNA tests "proceed only with the fully informed consent of guests after careful discussion between them and our production and aftercare teams", he added.

"Our current policy is that no children of school age are the subject of DNA tests and particular care is taken in relation to children of pre-school age, with children over the age of 18 months being involved only in exceptional cases."

In September 2007, a judge branded the Jeremy Kyle show "a form of human bear-baiting".

District Judge Alan Berg, sentencing one of the show's guests in Manchester for head-butting a love rival during filming, said the programme was "trash" and existed to "titillate bored members of the public with nothing better to do".

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