The Married at First Sight franchise has been left reeling by allegations of rape from a group of ex-contestants in a new BBC Panorama investigation.
On Monday, it came to light that two women on Channel 4‘s MAFS UK — where singletons are matched, by experts, with a stranger and meet for the first time at a mock wedding — claimed they had been raped during filming of the show.
The first said her husband had raped her and later threatened her with an acid attack, while a second woman told Channel 4 and production company CPL before broadcast about being allegedly raped by her husband. Her episodes, according to the BBC program, were still aired. A third woman, Shona Manderson, the only one to have revealed her identity, accused her onscreen husband of a non-consensual sex act. The men involved deny the claims, challenging the details of each woman’s account.
The former participants who have come forward say Channel 4 did not do enough to protect them. The BBC reported that Channel 4 was aware of some allegations before broadcast, but had previously told Panorama that all of the claims were “wholly uncorroborated and disputed.”
In the wake of the news, Channel 4 has removed all episodes of the program from its streaming and linear services, as well as the MAFS UK social media accounts. Holiday company Tui told the BBC that it was pausing sponsorship of the show.
