TUI ends sponsorship of Married at First Sight as Channel 4 programme reels from rape and sexual abuse allegations
TUI has terminated its sponsorship deal with Married at First Sight after the Channel 4 program was dragged into scandal over allegations of rape and sexual abuse.
The travel firm paused its sponsorship on Monday after two contestants claimed they were raped by their on-screen sons-in-law and one woman claimed he had sexual intercourse without her consent.
Confirming that it has now cut all ties with the programme, the company said: ‘Following the broadcast of the Panorama program and discussions with Channel 4, we have decided to end our sponsorship of Married at First Sight.’
TV critic Scott Bryan said the development showed how damaged the global MAFS brand was, with even versions outside the UK “having nothing to do with these latest allegations”.
Bryan told the BBC that Tui’s withdrawal from the Australian edition (sometimes referred to as MAFS Oz) as well as the UK one was a “big deal” because it was “an enormously popular and lucrative program for Channel 4, particularly among younger viewers”.
Media regulator Ofcom will tighten its guidance on reality shows if necessary, its boss said on Thursday.
Dame Melanie Dawes told Good Morning Britain: ‘What we always try to avoid is being really specific about ‘You can do this and you can’t do that’, because basically the responsibility lies with Channel 4 and its production company or ITV or the BBC or whoever makes these programmes.’
‘If they don’t get it right it’s going to be a serious problem.
Holiday firm TUI ends sponsorship of Married at First Sight amid rape and sexual abuse allegations
Channel 4’s chief executive says he is ‘deeply sorry’ after three women came forward with complaints
‘It’s very vivid but it raises really serious concerns. ‘If we need to tighten our guidance we will certainly do so.’
He continued: ‘Sometimes we have wake-up calls as a country, saying, ‘This has gone too far.”
Lawyers for CPL, the production company behind the UK version of the series, said it had acted appropriately in all these cases following claims that the benefits system was the ‘gold standard’.
Channel 4 boss Priya Dogra initially refused to apologize following the broadcast of Panorama on Monday, but expressed her ‘sympathy’ to those who spoke out.
However, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, she went further by saying she was ‘deeply sorry’, and admitted she had found the women’s accounts ‘very troubling’.
Alleged victims include Shona Manderson, who said she had an abortion after her on-screen husband Brad Skelly took things ‘too far’ during sex and ‘crossed the line’ when he ejaculated inside her without consent.
He said he understood he was giving consent and denied any sexual harassment
Waiving his name, he explained how he ‘completely lost his light’ during the shooting; This saw pundits raise concerns about Mr Skelly’s alleged ‘controlling’ attitude towards him and the fact that they were ultimately asked to leave the show.
Shona Manderson (right) says she was forced to have an abortion after her on-screen husband Brad Skelly ejaculated into her without permission
Laura Vaughan, a bride in the 2023 series, said she had also aired her complaints about Mr Skelly’s ‘disturbing’ and ‘challenging’ behaviour.
On Wednesday, Laura Vaughan, who appeared in the 2023 series alongside Ms Manderson, said she had also gone to the outreach team on the Channel 4 show because of Mr Skelly’s “disturbing” and “challenging” behaviour.
Ms Vaughan shared a video on social media in which she told her followers that the documentary raises questions about reality television’s preservation processes.
While two other female contestants stated that they were raped by their on-screen husbands, one contestant informed both Channel 4 and the production company that only the episodes would be broadcast.
The other said that he had bruises on his body due to the alleged attack and that his partner also threatened to throw acid on him.
It is understood that all of the men deny the accusations against them.
The women say the program, created by independent firm CPL, does not do enough to protect them and that outreach protocols are inadequate.
Shortly before the Panorama episode aired, Channel 4 announced it had launched an external review into the welfare of contributors last month.
It later removed all ten series of MAFS UK from the online streaming platform and said it had not decided whether Series 11, which had already been filmed and was due to be released in the autumn, would be aired.
