Springer faces fake fight claims

Klansmen on the chat show sparked a mass brawl - or did they?

America's rowdiest talk show is fighting allegations that its on-screen bust-ups are fixed.

Sixteen former guests on The Jerry Springer Show say they were coached in who to hit when they appeared on the programme.

They have told Rolling Stone magazine, the New York Post and a TV entertainment show, Extra, that the chat show even had a fight quota for each programme.

The controversy has led to the show being axed by the television station that hosts its taping, WMAQ-TV, but the rival Fox station in Chicago has picked up the programme.

Spokesmen for the show strongly deny the allegations made by former guests.

Springer makes a point

But Christopher Sterling, from George Washington University media department, says: "The show is like wrestling. The whole thing is a put-up job."

One former guest told Extra: "We acted everything. When you have to do this, when you have to punch, when you have to push.

"They wanted us to wrestle and throw each other around. They said 'We want four fights'."

The message to Jerry

And a top ABC official has called the show an embarrassment to the TV industry.

Springer, a former mayor of Cincinnati, has also had to deal with placard-waving church ministers who protested outside its Chicago studios.

The show features programmes including I Strip With My Family, Klanfrontation and I'm Pregnant By Your Man.

A show spokesman said: "Each of our guests is required to be truthful in their rendition of personal experiences and sign a legal statement of such compliance."