The Jeremy Kyle Show would dress guests in tracksuits, a purported programme insider has claimed.
A former runner on the show has alleged that there was violence backstage, and producers aimed to create confrontation for the audience.
Claims made by the apparent former employee have been reported by BBC Newsbeat about the ITV programme, which has been taken off air indefinitely.
Allegations made in the report include giving guests mini-bar access, handing them cigarettes and dressing them in clothes that were not their own.
It is claimed that tracksuits and hoodies were distributed to guests on the show, and had to be handed back afterwards.
The former runner told the BBC: “I saw things that you would never imagine happening on any other TV programme – guests running around the place uncontrollably, screaming and swearing at production crew.
“Guests were put up in a hotel close to the studio, sometimes with access to a mini-bar so they could get wasted the night before.
“The clothes you see the guests wear are sometimes not their own.
“The show might give them a basic jeans and t-shirt combo, or sometimes a more stereotypical tracksuit and hoodie look.”
Claims have been made that producers would encourage conflict backstage, relaying insults to guests from those they would face on the show.
Efforts were made, it is claimed, to keep guests separate until they met on stage in order to save any conflict for the cameras.
The person making claims to the BBC has said that guests would sometimes turn their anger on staff backstage.
An ITV spokeswoman said: “We do not recognise this characterisation of the show.”