Jeremy Kyle is back on our screens almost four years after his hit daytime chat show was axed.
But it's a situation the presenter thought would never come as he candidly admits he was "in a bad place" following the end of The Jeremy Kyle Show and the death of his dad.
He was once dubbed "The King of Daytime" before the daily show came to an abrupt end after guest Steve Dymond was found dead at home days after failing a lie detector test on the show in 2019.
After four years away from TV, Jeremy, 57, has revealed he feels strong enough to reignite his career on-screen.
He had been working on radio, but confessed the pull of television was too much to resist, joking he's happy to play "warm up" to Piers Morgan on TalkTV.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "To wake up on a Monday at 57 and discover that I’ve made it to the heady heights of being Piers Morgan’s fluffer — er, I mean warm-up man — is all right by me.
"To get back and have the confidence to do this again after the journey I’ve been on feels brilliant. Just getting on air is already a huge leap for me from where I was a few years ago."
He praised his family for helping him during the tough period in his career, saying they had been "so supportive". He added: "A new show and a new way of doing things, at a brand new TV station that really feels like it’s going places. This is a huge thing for me. I was in a bad place for a while."
His permanent comeback was confirmed last month after he has filled in for the former Good Morning Britain man on his show recently.
Jeremy Kyle Live is set to air from Monday October 10, and the presenter previously teased what viewers can expect from his latest TV venture - promising to make "sense of the stories that matter" and offer "practical help" as the nation navigates its way through tough times.
Earlier this year, the inquest into Mr Dymond's death was postponed after his mum died. Her funeral was set to take place on the second day of the inquest and a coroner said he was postponing it on "compassionate grounds".
Mr Dymond died at his Portsmouth home a week after filming for the former hit ITV show in May 2019.
Despite criticism of the show in the years that followed, counsellor Graham Stainer defended it earlier this year, saying the programme helped thousands of people via counselling, family mediation and anger management sessions.
