Location of the Birmingham area within England.

Brummie (sometimes Brummy) is a colloquial term for the inhabitants, accent and dialect of Birmingham, England, as well as being a general adjective used to denote a connection with the city, locally called Brum. The terms are all derived from Brummagem or Bromwichham, historical variants or alternatives to 'Birmingham'.

Accent[link]

The Brummie accent is an example of a regional accent of English.

Examples of celebrity speakers include singer TV presenter Adrian Chiles, comedian Jasper Carrott, historian and broadcaster Carl Chinn, the Goodies actor and TV presenter Bill Oddie, rock musicians Ozzy Osbourne (and all other members of the original Black Sabbath), Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne (ELO founders), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Dave Pegg (of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull), broadcaster Les Ross, politician Clare Short, SAS soldier, author John "Brummie" Stokes and many actresses and actors; Martha Howe-Douglas, Donnaleigh Bailey, Nicolas Woodman, Sarah Smart, John Oliver and Ryan Cartwright.

It is not the only accent of the West Midlands, although the term, Brummie, is often, erroneously, used in referring to all accents of the region. It is markedly distinct from the traditional accent of the adjacent Black Country, although modern-day population mobility has tended to blur the distinction. For instance, Dudley-born comedian Lenny Henry, Daniel Taylor, Smethwick-born actress Julie Walters and award winning soap actress Jan Pearson are sometimes mistaken for Brummie-speakers by people outside the West Midlands county.

The Brummie accent and the Coventry accent are also quite distinct in their differences, despite only 17 miles ( 27 km) separating the cities. To the untrained ear, however, all of these accents may sound very similar, just as British English speakers can find it hard to distinguish between Canadian and American accents, or Australian and New Zealand accents.

As with all English regional accents, the Brummie accent also grades into RP English. The accent of presenter Cat Deeley is listed by her voiceover agency, Curtis Brown, as "RP/Birmingham".

Pronunciation[link]

The strength of a persons' accent varies greatly all across Birmingham. Like most cities, the accent changes relative to the area of the city. A common misconception is that everyone in Birmingham speaks the same accent.

There are also differences between Brummie and Black Country accents not readily apparent to people from outside the West Midlands. A Black Country accent and a Birmingham accent can be hard to distinguish if neither accent is that broad. The phonetician John Wells has admitted that he cannot tell any difference between the accents.^[1] Urszula Clark has proposed the FACE vowel as a difference, with Birmingham speakers' using /ʌɪ/ and Black Country speakers' using /æɪ/.^[2] She also mentions that Black Country speakers are more likely to use /ɪʊ/ where most other accents use /juː/ (in words such as new, Hugh, stew, etc.).^[3]

Below are some common features of a recognisable Brummie accent (a given speaker may not necessarily use all, or use a feature consistently). The letters enclosed in square brackets – [] – use the International Phonetic Alphabet. The corresponding example texts enclosed in double quotes (") are spelt so that a reader using Received Pronunciation (RP) can approximate the sounds.

• The vowel of mouth (RP [aʊ]) can be [æʊ] or [æə]
• The vowel of goat (RP [əʊ]) can be close to [ɑʊ] (so to an RP speaker, goat may sound like "go-t")
• Final unstressed /i/, as in happy, may be realized as [əi], though this varies considerably between speakers
• The letters ng often represent /ŋɡ/ where RP has just /ŋ/ (e.g. singer as [siŋɡə]). See 'Ng-coalescence
• Both the vowels of strut and foot as [ʊ], as in northern England. See foot–strut split
• The majority of Brummies use the Northern [a] in words like bath, cast and chance, although the southern [ɑː] is more common amongst older speakers.^[4]
• The vowels in "price" and "choice" may be almost merged as [ɒɪ] so that the two words would almost rhyme. However, the two are still distinct, unlike the Black Country dialect.
• In more old-fashioned Brummie accents, the FORCE set of words takes [ʌʊə] and the PURE set takes [uːə], so both sets were in two syllables. In such an old-fashioned accent, the words paw, pour and poor would all be said differently: [pɔː], [pʌʊə], [puːə]. In more modern accents, all three are said as [pɔː]^[5]
• Final unstressed /ə/ may be realised as [a]
• In a few cases, voicing of final /s/ (e.g. bus as [bʊz])
• Some rolling of prevocalic /r/ (some speakers; e.g. in "crime")

Recordings of Brummie speakers with phonetic features described in SAMPA format can be found at the Collect Britain dialects site.^[6]

Rhymes and vocabulary in the works of William Shakespeare suggest that he used a local dialect (Birmingham and his birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, are both in the English West Midland dialect area.)^{[citation needed]}

Confusion Between 'Brummie' and other Midlands Areas'[link]

There seems to be a major misconception about 'Brummie' and other Midland areas'. For example, people from Wolverhampton are deemed Brummie. with a Brummie accent, when in actual fact they are not - they're (usually to Brummies) referred to as 'Yam-Yams', with a 'Yam-Yam' accent. Even Brummies stereotype 'Yam-Yams' as slow or unintelligent, based on how they talk.

This misconception angers many native Brummies, since even they have a major dislike towards the 'Yam-Yam' accent and confusion deeming 'Yam-Yams' as Brummies.

The confusion is mainly in Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Black Country.

Stereotypes[link]

A study was conducted in 2008 where people were asked to grade the intelligence of a person based on their accent and the Brummie accent was ranked as the least intelligent accent. It even scored lower than being silent, an example of the stereotype attached to the Brummie accent.^[7]

According to Birmingham English: A Sociolinguistic Study (Steve Thorne, 2003), among UK listeners "Birmingham English in previous academic studies and opinion polls consistently fares as the most disfavoured variety of British English, yet with no satisfying account of the dislike". He alleges that, overseas visitors in contrast find it "lilting and melodious", and from this claims that such dislike is driven by various linguistic myths and social factors peculiar to the UK ("social snobbery, negative media stereotyping, the poor public image of the City of Birmingham, and the north/south geographical and linguistic divide"). However, the Brummie accent is the only 'northern' accent to receive such attention.

For instance, despite the city's cultural and innovative history, its industrial background (as depicted by the arm-and-hammer in Birmingham's coat of arms) has led to a muscular and unintelligent stereotype: a "Brummagem screwdriver" or "Brummie screwdriver" is UK slang for a hammer.

Steve Thorne also cites the mass media and entertainment industry where actors, usually non-Birmingham, have used inaccurate accents and/or portrayed negative roles.

Advertisements are another medium where many perceive stereotypes. Journalist Lydia Stockdale, writing in the Birmingham Post,^[8] commented on advertisers' association of Birmingham accents with pigs: the pig in the ad for Colman's Potato Bakes, Nick Park's Hells Angel Pigs for British Gas and ITV's "Dave the window-cleaner pig" all had Brummie accents. In 2003, a Halifax bank advertisement featuring Howard Brown, a Birmingham- born and based employee, was replaced by an animated version with an exaggerated comical accent overdubbed by a Cockney actor.^[9]

Dialect[link]

According to the PhD thesis of Steve Thorne at the University of Birmingham Department of English, Birmingham English is "a dialectal hybrid of northern, southern, Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire speech", also with elements from the languages and dialects of its Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities.

Traditional expressions include:

Babby 

Variation of "baby"

Bawlin, Bawl 

To cry, as in "She started to bawl'"

Cob 

A bread roll (comes from the fact bread rolls look like street cobbles)

Go and play up your own end 

Said to children from a different street making a nuisance. It has been used as the title of the autobiographical book and musical play about the Birmingham childhood of radio presenter and entertainer Malcolm Stent

Our Wench 

Affectionate term, meaning 'sister' or sometimes used by a husband referring to his wife

Pop 

Another word for a glass of fizzy drinks, do you want a glass of pop

Snap 

Food, a meal, allegedly derived from the act of eating itself (example usage "I'm off to get my snap" equates to "I'm leaving to get my dinner"). May also refer to the tin containing lunch, a "snap tin", as taken down the pit by miners

Scrage

A scratched cut, where skin is sliced off. For example 'I fell over an badly scraged my knee'

Suff 

Another word for drain, as in "put it down the suff"

Throw a wobbly 

To become sulky or have a tantrum (paddy being a stereotyped 'stroppy' Irishman; presumably relating to the Irish resistance to British rule)

Trap 

To leave suddenly, or flee

Up the cut 

Up the canal (not unique to Birmingham)

Yampy 

(often "dead yampy") Mad, daft, barmy (also used is the word "Saft", as in "Yow big saft babbie"). Many Black Country folk^[specify] believe "yampy" is a Black Country word, originating from the Dudley/Tipton area, which has been appropriated and claimed as their own by both Birmingham and Coventry dialects

See also[link]

Midlands English dialects[link]

• Black Country
• Potteries dialect (North Staffordshire)

References[link]

Notations[link]

• How to Speak Brummie
• Ask Oxford Brum

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Talk Like A Brummie Day On 17 July 2009
• Talk Like A Brummie A wiki-based Birmingham dialect dictionary
• Brummies Talking Discussions and games
• ebrummie.co.uk^{[dead link]} Dr Steve Thorne's website devoted to the study of Brummie, including a dictionary, MP3 speech samples, discussion of his research on stereotypes, etc.
• Birmingham English sample using a test paragraph including most English sounds: George Mason University Speech Accent Archive. Compare a Dudley (Black Country) sample
• Sounds Familiar? Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
• Why Brummies Why not Birmies? Etymological article by Dr Carl Chinn
• Brummie and Black Country sayings
• Brummie is beautiful BBC News, 28 August 2003
• Brummie is Beautiful! University of Birmingham press release about Dr Steve Thorne's PhD thesis, Birmingham English: A Sociolinguistic Study
• Paul Henry on Benny's accent Noele Gordon and Crossroads Appreciation Society interview
• English Accents and Dialects, British Library : Sue Long, Aubrey Walton, Harry Phillips and Billy Lucas.
• English Accents and Dialects, Warwickshire speakers - William Sewell of Hockley Heath, Mr Calcutt of Aston Cantlow, Mr Duckett of Lighthorne, and Harry Cook of Shipston-on-Stour - show progressive accent change moving south-east from Birmingham across isogloss
• Whoohoo Brummie translator
• Birmingham's Industrial History website

You may be looking for Martin Shaw (composer) or Martin Shaw (sociologist).

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012)

Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the television series The Professionals, The Chief, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.

Theatrical background[link]

Shaw was born in Birmingham. According to him, his first stage appearance was at age three, during an amateur show in which his parents were performing. At Great Barr School, where musician Steve Winwood was a classmate, Shaw excelled in English literature and drama lessons. At sixteen, he was offered a scholarship to a Birmingham drama school. Declining the scholarship, he left school and, on the advice of his parents, he sought employment. One job was in the office of a brass foundry. At eighteen, Shaw moved to London to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He served his apprenticeship in repertory as an assistant stage manager at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch and the Bristol Old Vic.

Stage[link]

Shaw took key roles in the first revival of Look Back in Anger (Royal Court/Criterion, 1968); in the National Theatre's Saturday, Sunday, Monday opposite Laurence Olivier (1973); and in A Streetcar Named Desire presented by the Piccadilly Theatre in 1974. He later acknowledged the role of Stanley Kowalski in 'Streetcar' as a point of breakthrough in his career.

In the 1980s, Shaw played Elvis Presley in Alan Bleasdale's critically acclaimed Are You Lonesome Tonight?. It told the story of Elvis' last few hours. After a long run in London, the production visited Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Shaw's portrayal of Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband on Broadway earned him a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk award.

After filming finished on the TV series Judge John Deed, Shaw took the role of Thomas More in Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons. Shaw's daughter, Sophie, played opposite him as More's daughter, Margaret. The production toured Britain's cities before a run in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Television[link]

Shaw began television work in 1967. Parts in one-off plays for Granada Television led to his playing hippy student Robert Croft, Lucile Hewitt's boyfriend, in Coronation Street.^[1] Another early role was booze and football-loving Welsh medical student Huw Evans in the television comedy series Doctor in the House. Huw Evans later returned in the Doctor at Large episode "Mother and Father Doing Well" as a nervous expectant father.

Shaw appeared with future co-star Lewis Collins in an episode of The New Avengers. Both played the roles of terrorists.^[1]

Shaw portrayed Ray Doyle ("Agent 4-5") in the British television series The Professionals (1977–1981). Shaw played another law-enforcement role in the 1990s ITV production The Chief.

In 1983, Shaw played Robert Falcon Scott in The Last Place on Earth. The series was filmed at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island, Canada. In interview at the time, Shaw commented that he generally responded well to the testing physical conditions, particularly when they enhanced the reality of the scene.

Rhodes is an eight part serial that aired in 1996 and was filmed on location in South Africa. Shaw's younger son, Joe, took early leave of his drama school course to play the part of the youthful Cecil Rhodes before Shaw completed Rhodes's story from the statesman's mature years to his death.

In 2001, he took the title role in the BBC drama Judge John Deed. The character gave an editorial voice to the television writer and producer G.F. Newman's ideas about lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism and alternative medicine as well as issues of social justice. One episode about the safety of the MMR vaccine was banned.

Between seasons of Judge John Deed, Shaw took the role of poetic bespectacled forensic detective Adam Dalgliesh in P.D. James's Death in Holy Orders in 2003 and The Murder Room in 2005.

After the sixth season of Judge John Deed had been filmed, Shaw appeared in the series Apparitions broadcast by the BBC in 2008. This was Shaw's first project as executive director.

In the police drama Inspector George Gently, Shaw appears in the title role.

Shaw also appeared as Sir Charles Cartwright in a 2009 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot tale Three Act Tragedy.

Film[link]

Shaw's first film role was an Irish communist in Love on the Dole (1966). Better known is his 70s role of Banquo in Roman Polanski's Macbeth. Although Shaw is not classified as a film actor, he has an eclectic oeuvre of film roles, including an undercover Second World War operative in Operation Daybreak; a singing and dancing futuristic magician "Zax" in Facelift; and a wanted villain leading a life on the run in a circus troop in Ladder of Swords.

Narration and documentaries[link]

Shaw has narrated many audiobooks, including Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Silmarillion; Swift's Gulliver's Travels; and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

In 2006, Shaw narrated and appeared in a DVD chronicling the "Merlins over Malta" project. This featured the return of a World War II Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane from Britain to Malta for the first time in fifty years.

In December 2006, Shaw presented the six-part Discovery Channel Real Time TV series Martin Shaw: Aviators, produced by Twofour, which followed the two-year restoration of his Boeing Stearman biplane after it was crashed by another pilot at Old Buckenham airfield in Norfolk. Shaw fulfilled a lifetime ambition to take the controls of a Spitfire (owned by Maurice Bayliss) and, though take-off was not permitted, he also powered an English Electric Lightning (owned by Russell Carpenter) to 150 mph in three seconds along the runway at Cranfield Airport. Shaw also compared notes with the nonagenarian builder and developer of the modern autogyro, Wing Cdr. Ken Wallis.

In 2010 he presented a documentary for the BBC titled "Dambusters Declassified" in which he investigated and debunked some of the myths of the Dambusters raid story which had been portrayed in the books Enemy Coast Ahead and The Dambusters, and the film The Dambusters.

Advertisements and endorsements[link]

Among several voiceovers and appearances, in 1974, Shaw starred in a three-minute advertisement for the Mk II Ford Capri ^[2] and in 1987, a TV advert for the Vauxhall Cavalier.^[3]

In March 2012, he also announced that he would become the official patron to the community organisation Stop Norwich UrBanisation or SNUB, which is trying to protect Norfolk's countryside from over-development and excessive urbanisation. In the press release, he stated that he was "simply furious and upset by your plight and that of all of us who wish to live in quiet and peace. I will be your Patron and keep fighting".^[4]

Personal life[link]

His childhood was spent in Erdington and then Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham. In his youth, Shaw was involved in a drunken brawl with a friend, suffering broken teeth, injuries to his face and a fractured skull.^[5] A mid-face fracture involving the right cheekbone required surgical rebuilding.

In 1971, Shaw became a follower of Charan Singh, a master of the ancient spiritual tradition of Sant Mat.^[6] This involved a strict lacto vegetarian diet, meditation, yoga and the avoidance of alcohol and other mind-altering drugs.

He is a celebrity activist for animal rights and animal welfare. He is the patron of the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk, a charity organisation that provides a safe home for neglected and abused animals.^[7] He also supports Viva!

In interviews and in the Martin Shaw - Aviators documentary series, Shaw readily shares his passion for vintage aeroplanes. He is the holder of a private pilot's licence. For several years, Shaw owned a 1943 Boeing Stearman PT-17 Kaydet (G-BAVO) and now flies a Piper Cub (G-BFBY).

Shaw has three children by his first wife, actress Jill Allen, whom he married in 1968: Luke Shaw, an actor; Joe Shaw, an actor and director; and Sophie Shaw, an actor and singer with the band "Blue Harlem".

Shaw's second wife was former nurse turned alternative therapist and core process psychotherapist, Maggie Mansfield.

Shaw's third wife was TV presenter, environmental activist and fellow pilot Vicky Kimm.

Between January 2003 and July 2008, Shaw and his current partner, Karen da Silva, were stalked by Sandra Price, a divorcee in her sixties. Price sent Shaw several letters (which he said he found "offensive and intrusive") as well as a 120-page dossier of her views on his career and a 45-minute cassette tape.

In the early hours of a morning in July 2008, Price poured petrol through the door of da Silva's home. This action precipitated Price's arrest by police. In a two-day trial at King's Lynn Magistrates' court (6–7 January 2009), Price pleaded guilty to damage to property. She was also convicted of harassment. Price was sentenced on 28 January.^{[citation needed]} Although she avoided a custodial sentence, she was ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid community work and pay a contribution towards the Crown's costs of £800. An electronically monitored curfew between 7 am and 7 pm was imposed and the complainants received a restraining order against Price.

On 18 August 2010, Shaw collapsed during the first act of the matinee showing of A Country Girl at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn. His agent, Roger Charteris, said he had been suffering from cracked ribs and was taking antibiotics for a severe chest infection. An understudy went on in his place.^[8]

Awards and nominations[link]

Shaw won two awards in 1996 for his performance as Lord Goring in the Broadway production of An Ideal Husband and was nominated for a third:

• Winner of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
• Winner of the Theatre World Special Award for Ensemble Performance
• Nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Television appearances[link]

Theatre appearances[link]

Film appearances[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	England portal
	Film portal
	Television portal
	Theatre portal

• List of British actors and actresses
• List of people from Birmingham, England

References[link]

External links[link]

• Martin Shaw at the Internet Broadway Database
• Martin Shaw at the Internet Movie Database

Jeremy Kyle
Jeremy Kyle at Radio Festival 2010
Born	(1965-07-07) 7 July 1965 (age 46) Reading, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Other names	Jezza
Education	University of Surrey
Occupation	Broadcaster
Years active	1996–present
Employer	ITV
Known for	The Jeremy Kyle Show
Spouse	Kirsty Rowley (m. 1989–1991) «start: (1989)–end+1: (1992)»"Marriage: Kirsty Rowley to Jeremy Kyle" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jeremy_Kyle) (divorced) Carla Germaine (m. 2003) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Carla Germaine to Jeremy Kyle" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jeremy_Kyle)
Children	3 daughters, 1 son

Jeremy Kyle (born 7 July 1965)^[1] is an English radio and television presenter, best known for his British daytime television chat show on ITV, The Jeremy Kyle Show. Kyle is also the host of an American talk show of the same name which premiered on 19 September 2011.

Radio career[link]

From 1986-95, Kyle worked as a salesman for life insurance, recruitment, and radio advertising.^[2] He then became a radio presenter and after a brief stint at Orchard FM in Taunton and Leicester Sound in Leicester, he was signed by Kent's Invicta FM in 1996. In 1997, he joined BRMB in Birmingham, presenting the shows Late & Live and Jezza's Jukebox.^[3][4]

In 2000, Kyle moved to the Century FM network, taking this format with him. The show was called Jezza's Confessions. It was broadcast between 9pm and 1am. He won a Sony Award for Late & Live in 2001.^[2] On 1 July 2002, he made his first broadcast on Virgin Radio, presenting Jezza's Virgin Confessions every weekday from 8pm to midnight. In mid-2003, he broadcast the show from 9pm to 1am every weekday, and in January 2004 the show went out from 10pm to 1am, Sunday to Thursday. He left Virgin Radio in June 2004. From 5 September 2004, Kyle presented the Confessions show on London's Capital FM. The new programme aired Sunday to Thursday from 10pm to 1am with live calls on relationship issues of all kinds. Capital Confessions came to an end on 22 December 2005 to make way for The Jeremy Kyle Show, a similar show which ran from January 2006 to December 2006.

In late 2007, Kyle began a new show (The Jeremy Kyle Show), broadcasting across Gcap Media's One Network, of which Orchard FM, Invicta FM and BRMB, his previous employers, are a part. The programme differed from his previous shows in that he interviewed celebrities. Kyle also began broadcasting a new programme, on Essex FM, in November 2007.

Kyle joined Talksport on 21 September 2008 to present a lunchtime sports show every Sunday called The Jeremy Kyle Sunday Sports Show.

As a result of Talksport's Premiership coverage on a Sunday, Kyle's show was cancelled, and he left the station.^[5]

TV career[link]

In 2005 Kyle moved his format to ITV, with a programme also entitled The Jeremy Kyle Show. Here Kyle has reached his widest audience to date. His often aggressive manner with guests has been the source of both popularity and criticism. He is seemingly unafraid of reprisal from his guests, believing that speaking his mind is better than holding his peace. Guests sometimes take offence at Kyle's comments, one guest even attempting to throw a chair at him, whilst another threw an envelope at the back of his head, but he often justifies his criticism by claiming that he only wants to help them. Kyle recently claimed on air that his show was watched by 1.8 million viewers, a very high figure for a daytime chat show.

In September 2007, Judge Alan Berg described The Jeremy Kyle Show as trash which existed to "titillate bored members of the public with nothing better to do". He went on to say "It seems to me that the purpose of this show is to affect a morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil" and added that it was "human bear-baiting".^[6] The judge so characterised it "after [a] husband was provoked into headbutting [his] wife's lover in front of [Kyle's] studio audience".^[7]

In February 2008, The Jeremy Kyle Show was again criticised in court after a man who found out during the recording of a show that he was not the father of his wife's baby later pointed an air rifle at her.^[8]

Other shows Kyle is involved with include Kyle's Academy, a ten-part series for ITV1 daytime which first aired on 18 June 2007.^[8] A team of experts (so-called life coaches and psychotherapists), headed by Kyle take five people and work with them over an intensive fortnight to help them on the road to a happier more fulfilled life. Kyle has also presented Half Ton Hospital, a show about morbidly obese people in the United States. In December 2009 he played himself in ITV1's comedy-drama The Fattest Man in Britain.

On 19 April 2011, Kyle began presenting a new documentary series called Military Driving School, where he visited the Defence School Of Transport in Yorkshire, following a group of new recruits as they undergo training as front line military drivers. He is the presenter of the ITV1 show High Stakes, which began on 11 October 2011. Billed as a game of "knowledge, risk, and tension," the show involves participants answering questions and stepping on the correct six squares on a grid in order to avoid trap numbers.^[9]

Writing career[link]

Kyle writes a column for Pick Me Up, a women's weekly magazine published by IPC.^[10] In his column, titled Jeremy Kyle Says..., Kyle adopts a frank style in responding to readers' problems that closely resembles the approach he takes on The Jeremy Kyle Show.

In 2009 Kyle wrote his first book, 'I'm Only Being Honest', about Britain's social problems and his views on how to solve them including recounts of his past and personal life.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Kyle was born in Reading, Berkshire.^[1] His father was an accountant and personal secretary to the Queen Mother.^[12] He attended the independent Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning, Berkshire^[2] and studied history and sociology at the University of Surrey.^[13]

He met his first wife, Kirsty Rowley, in 1988, when he was a recruitment consultant in an agency in Bristol.^[14] They became a couple within a fortnight, and were engaged within two months. They married in Almondsbury near Bristol seven months later, in July 1989. Their daughter, Harriet, was born in June 1990. The marriage ended just five months after the birth, in November 1990. His ex-wife has since claimed that Kyle had carefully concealed a destructive and expensive gambling habit from her over the course of their marriage.^[14]

He met former model Carla Germaine in 1999, while he was presenting on a BRMB radio show, and Germaine entered the controversial Two Strangers and a Wedding contest hosted by the station.^[15]

As the winner of the bride part of the contest, her prize was to marry the selected groom, Greg Cordell. Their marriage lasted only three months, after claims that Greg had an affair just days after their honeymoon, and she subsequently married Kyle in 2002.^[15][16][17] They have two daughters and a son together.