Married at First Sight UK: Three women allege rape by show partners, Channel 4 pulls episodes
Three women have told the BBC they were sexually assaulted by men they were partnered with on Channel 4's Married at First Sight UK. Channel 4 has removed all episodes from streaming and linear services.
Three women allege rape on Married at First Sight UK set as Channel 4 pulls all episodes
Three women have told bbc.com they were raped or subjected to non-consensual sexual acts by men they were paired with on Channel 4's reality series Married at First Sight UK, with all three saying the production did not do enough to protect them.
Two of the women allege they were raped during filming. A third has described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act. All three said they are speaking out because they believe they should have received better protection.
Channel 4 was aware of some of the allegations before the episodes were broadcast. On Monday afternoon, the broadcaster said it had removed all relevant episodes from its streaming platform All 4 and from linear services, alongside the show's social media channels.
The chairwoman of a new creative industry watchdog told the BBC that the show's format carried "high levels of risk" that were "certainly not being managed properly." Channel 4 had previously said all the allegations were "wholly uncorroborated and disputed."
When approached by the BBC on Monday, Channel 4's outgoing chief content officer Ian Katz said he had not yet seen the Panorama documentary that brought the allegations to light, adding: "They are obviously very serious allegations. We want to see the show and when we see the show we will respond."
Shortly after publication, Channel 4 said it had commissioned an external review last month into welfare practices on the show "after being presented with serious allegations of wrongdoing."
Lawyers for CPL, the independent production company behind the UK version of the series, described its welfare system as "gold standard" and industry-leading, and said it had acted appropriately in every case.
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC the allegations were "serious," adding that "everyone working and participating in television must be treated with dignity and respect at all times." The spokesperson said all allegations must be referred to the appropriate authorities and investigated fully, with consequences for any criminality or wrongdoing.
Ofcom said broadcasters are required under its rules to "take due care over the welfare of people who might be at risk of significant harm as a result of taking part in a programme." The regulator said it noted Channel 4's external review and would await its findings before reviewing all evidence made available to it.
Married at First Sight UK — widely known as MAFS — is billed as a "bold social experiment" in which single people agree to marry total strangers, meeting for the first time at mock weddings. The marriages carry no legal standing, but participants go on filmed honeymoons, move in together and navigate their relationships almost entirely on camera. The UK version has run for ten seasons, broadcast in primetime on E4, with audience figures regularly exceeding three million. All episodes had been available on All 4.
One of the three women, Shona Manderson, is the only one who agreed to be identified. "I don't think that because you're going on reality TV, you deserve in any way for things like this to happen to you," she said.
A second woman, identified only as Lizzie to protect her anonymity — a legal entitlement for anyone making an allegation of rape — said she noticed "red flags" about her onscreen partner almost immediately. During the honeymoon, she said, he frequently lost his temper in private.
"He would just explode, he would go into this absolute focused anger," Lizzie said.
Off camera, Lizzie said her onscreen husband told her that he and a former partner had been "violent" towards each other. She reported her concerns to CPL's welfare team. Lawyers for CPL said that when welfare staff spoke to the man, he told them he had been the victim of violence, not the perpetrator, and that CPL subsequently discussed this with Lizzie, who told them she did not feel at risk.
Lizzie said the sex with her onscreen husband turned violent, leaving her bruised, despite her repeatedly asking him to stop. She said she was initially too frightened to tell anyone. "He said that if I told anybody what had happened, that he would get someone to throw acid at me," she said.
She said that when she tried to raise the matter with the show's onscreen relationship experts, he "threw a temper tantrum and threatened to leave." That night, she said, he attacked her.
The allegations have been described as "disturbing" and "incredibly worrying" by Women's Aid, one of the country's leading women's safety charities. "The tragic reality is that violence against women and girls does not discriminate and can impact anyone, even if they are being watched by millions on national television," the charity said.
The latest season of Married at First Sight UK has already been filmed and is expected to air later this year.
Source: The Sun