AceShowbiz - British broadcaster Jeremy Kyle has been declared an "interested party" at an inquest into the suspected suicide of a guest on his show.

Construction worker Steve Dymond said the presenter got "in his face," jeered him, and called him a failure after he failed a lie detector test on the since-axed "The Jeremy Kyle Show", and a coroner has ruled the presenter's actions may have "caused or contributed" to his death.

Following the appearance, Dymond collapsed in tears afterwards, slumped to his hands and knees fearing he was going to pass out, tried to flee the studio to escape the audiences' boos, and said he wished he was dead.

In a 15-minute phone call to his brother on the way home, Dymond said he wanted to leap out of the taxi or take a morphine overdose and, seven days later, the 63-year-old was found dead from a morphine overdose in his rented home in Portsmouth, England.

At a pre-inquest hearing in Winchester, Hants, coroner Jason Pegg declared Kyle an "interested party" because evidence suggested his actions "may have caused or contributed to the death."

The inquest has heard previously Dymond went on the show despite a doctor ruling he had a "concrete plan" to kill himself and Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, who is representing the late man's family, has claimed the show failed to adequately safeguard him.

"Mr Dymond was extremely distressed by his experience at The Jeremy Kyle Show, a programme which has been described by a judge when sentencing a former contestant as 'human bear-baiting,' '' she insisted, reported Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper

"Following his death the show was axed and widespread concerns were raised regarding the format of the show, its selection and treatment of participants, and aftercare.''

The family now wants the coroner to conduct a jury inquest to examine in detail Steve's care in the seven-week period leading up to his death.

"The Jeremy Kyle Show" first aired on U.K. network ITV in July 2005 and has long been controversial as well as popular, as guests were invited to thrash out conflicts and relationship problems in front of a studio audience. Critics have claimed producers exploit the vulnerable and their personal problems for entertainment.