Two women allege they were raped during filming of Married at First Sight UK | Channel 4
Two women claimed that they were raped during the filming of Married at First Sight UK, one of Channel 4’s biggest programs, while the third claimed that she was subjected to sexual intercourse without her consent.
The women told an edition of the BBC’s Panorama program outlining their allegations that the program was not enough to protect them.
The program claimed Channel 4 was aware of some of the allegations ahead of broadcast and that episodes featuring the women involved were available on the streaming service until recently.
On Monday afternoon, Channel 4 said it was removing all episodes from broadcast and linear services, as well as Married at First Sight UK social channels.
In the reality show known as MAFS, single people “marry” strangers they first met on their wedding day, but the marriages are not legally binding.
Channel 4 said it understands that “serious allegations” were made against a small number of past contributors in April, but these allegations were denied by those contributors. It said “prompt and appropriate action was taken” when concerns about the welfare of contributors were raised through existing welfare and production protocols.
“Channel 4 strongly denies any claims to the contrary,” he said.
Lawyers for CPL, the independent production company that produced the UK version of the program for Channel 4, told the BBC that its welfare protocols for contributors were the “gold standard” and that it had acted appropriately in all these cases.
A woman said her on-screen “husband” raped her and threatened her with an acid attack, Panorama reports.
She claimed that sexual intercourse with her on-screen husband quickly turned violent and she “kept saying stop”. He told Panorama he was too scared to tell anyone. “He said if I told anyone what happened, he would find someone to throw acid on me,” he said.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the woman’s on-screen husband told the BBC that the woman denied rape.
CPL lawyers said the woman did not tell the company about her partner telling her she “couldn’t say no” and the acid-throwing comment was reported as a passing comment, not a threat. They said CPL took immediate action after the woman felt unsafe.
A second woman claimed she told both Channel 4 and CPL before broadcast that she had been allegedly raped by her on-screen husband, but episodes were still being broadcast.
CPL attorneys said they follow outreach protocols and take concerns seriously. They said that before making the rape allegation, he told CPL that all sexual activity was completely consensual.
A third woman also accused her on-screen husband of sexual harassment.
Channel 4 said the program was produced “under some of the most comprehensive and robust outreach protocols in the industry”, including comprehensive background checks, codes of conduct, daily participant checks and a specialist outreach team.
Channel 4’s new chief executive Priya Dogra launched an external review into the welfare of the programme’s contributors last month. It will look at whether any requests need to be addressed and whether outreach protocols need to be updated.
“I would like to express my condolences to the contributors who are clearly suffering after appearing on Married at First Sight UK,” Dogra said. “The well-being of our contributors is always of paramount importance.
“In relation to allegations that Channel 4 may have failed in its duty of care, I believe that when concerns were raised about the welfare of contributors and based on the information available at the time, Channel 4 acted quickly, appropriately, sensitively and with welfare in mind.”
