“It was traumatic,” said a former employee.

“There was full-out shouting, calling people idiots and slamming doors, and that wouldn’t be acceptable in any other job at any other company. Then afterwards everyone is upset and everyone is crying.”

A current worker added: “I’ve worked in jobs where people get angry, but it’s a whole different level of just weird, neurotic behavior, and it’s just incessant, it’s just constant. It doesn’t there’s no relief.”

Another former employee spoke about the mental cost of working on the show, explaining that he had to go to therapy to cope with his experience.

“I would have nightmares. I would literally work in my sleep and have nightmares about something going wrong or going the wrong way.

“Even when I quit I had to go to therapy for it, which is crazy because you work for a therapist.”

“If you complain to HR, you might as well expect to be fired,” said another former employee.

“They will do everything they can to keep anything a secret.”

Listen to Mamamia’s daily entertainment podcast, The Spill. The post continues below.

In perhaps the most shocking allegation, a former employee accused McGraw’s team of trying to deny a guest psychiatric medication in an effort to create more sensational television.

“We were specifically told, ‘Make sure she doesn’t take her meds before you go on stage,’ because they wanted her to look unsteady and, in quotes, ‘crazy’ for lack of ‘a better term,’ they alleged.

“It’s all for the good of television,” they added.

“Obviously this girl should be on her meds and that’s why we’re trying to get her help, but for the sake of TV they wanted her to watch off the rails.”