LONDON (AP) — Broadcaster Channel 4 has pulled all episodes of “Married at First Sight UK” from its platforms after three contestants claimed they were sexually assaulted by on-screen partners on the matchmaking reality show.The broadcaster said the allegations are “very serious,” and the British government said Tuesday there must be “consequences for criminality or wrongdoing.”“Married at First Sight” is an international reality TV franchise inspired by a Danish original, with editions in countries including the U.S., Australia and South Africa. Strangers are matched by experts and move in together after mock wedding ceremonies.Two women who appeared on the British show say they were raped by their on-screen husbands, and a third claims she was subjected to a nonconsensual sexual act.The claims were made during an investigation by the BBC current affairs program “Panorama.” The BBC said the claimants have not contacted the police, and the men involved dispute the allegations.
Conservative lawmaker Caroline Dinenage, who heads the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, told the BBC that the show clearly involves “an element of risk.”
1 MIN READ
“It’s a TV show that almost expects and anticipates people that have only just met will have to become really quite intimate with each other,” she told the BBC. “They’re expected to share a bed and a life together within minutes of meeting. It almost feels like an accident waiting to happen.”
