PA Jeremy Kyle
Four children were left to fend for themselves while their bone-idle mum watched Jeremy Kyle, a court heard.
The lazy mother was so hooked on daytime TV that she expected her two eldest daughters to run the house and bring up their younger sister and little brother.
Now the mum has been found guilty of assaulting one girl and mistreating the oldest two by requiring them to take on her parental responsibilities.
She was given a three-year supervision order.
Cardiff Crown Court was told that the sisters had to get their younger siblings ready for school, then drop them off, before going onto their own school.
Their mum's obsession with the chat show made the children late for school and so the girls often brushed their hair and cleaned their teeth in public toilets before going to their classes.
The prosecution said: "Sadly she is a mother who has inadequately brought up two young girls.
She would regularly watch Jeremy Kyle instead of properly caring for her children.
The defence hit back: "She may not be perfect - she may spend her days in her living room with friends who also do no work and have useless partners, as they look after their children.
"In that position what else is there to do? "You possibly would watch Jeremy Kyle."
Judge John Curran told the woman - who is in her 30s and cannot be identified in order to protect her children - that her behaviour had harmed the teenage girls.
The children, who are now living with another relative, also claimed their mother 'had a go' at them after drinking - and even offered cans of booze to them.