MAFS UK pulled from Channel 4 following ‘very serious’ allegations of sexual assault

Content warning: Details of alleged sexual assault

Channel 4 has removed all seasons of Married at First Sight UK following “very serious” allegations of sexual assault from previous participants. The decision comes as two women on the social experiment series have claimed that they were raped by their on-screen ‘husbands’ during filming, according to the BBC.

The publication’s investigation includes allegations from a third woman of a non-consensual sex act taking place while filming the Channel 4 reality series.The widely-watched reality TV series, which premiered in 2015 and aired its tenth season at the end of last year, is no longer available on streaming services.

The publication’s investigation reports allegations from a third woman of a non-consensual sex act while filming the Channel 4 reality series. 

Channel 4 announces external review 

The news broke ahead of BBC Panorama’s special investigation into the claims. Channel 4 announced on 18 May that there is an external review currently underway. The review was commissioned into contributor welfare on the popular reality TV series last month. 

“In April, Channel 4 was presented with serious allegations of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied. The channel is mindful of the privacy and continuing duty of care towards all contributors, and cannot comment on or disclose details of those allegations,” the broadcaster addressed the news in a press release. 

Priya Dogra, Chief Executive of Channel 4, expressed “sympathy to contributors who have clearly been distressed” after participating on the social experiment series. 

“On the claims that Channel 4 may have failed in its duty of care, I believe that when concerns about contributor welfare were raised, and based on the information available at the time, Channel 4 acted quickly, appropriately, sensitively and with wellbeing front and centre,” the statement continued. 

“Nevertheless, because we aspire to the highest standards of contributor welfare, I felt strongly as Channel 4’s new CEO that it was right that we look again at how we handled issues raised at the time and ask whether changes should be made to further strengthen contributor welfare,” she explained the decision to commission an external review.