The British version of the popular dating reality show “Married at First Sight” has been canceled after some of the participants accused other participants of rape and threats of acid attacks.
Channel 4 announced this week that the show will not return after its tenth year of production. The allegations first surfaced in a BBC Panorama investigation, “The Dark Side of Married at First Sight,” which aired in May and in which the women said the show failed to protect them.
Two of the show’s participants allege that they were raped, and one said her on-screen husband also threatened her with an acid attack. Both women chose to remain anonymous. A third woman, identified as Shona Manderson, accused her on-screen husband of performing a non-consensual sexual act, as BBC reported.
The accused men all denied the allegations. The outlet noted that one of the men was arrested on suspicion of rape back in June.
Channel 4 commissioned an external review of contributor welfare in April, after Panorama brought the allegations to the network, and later pulled all previous seasons from its streaming platforms. Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra said in a statement that the review, which examined more than 31,000 documents and 20 hours of footage, found that the show’s welfare protocols complied with Ofcom’s broadcasting code.
However, she said fully adopting the review’s recommendations would fundamentally change the format, and she decided to end the show. “This review did not have the authority to adjudicate on the very serious allegations made by three women… but I would like to repeat that I am very sorry for the distress those women have clearly felt,” Dogra said.
“Married at First Sight” is a reality television social experiment where complete strangers agree to marry each other the very first time they meet at the altar, hoping to find true and lasting love. The weddings are not legally valid, but the couples act like spouses after their faux weddings and go on a honeymoon and move in together.
“Married at First Sight UK” first aired in July 2015, one year after the U.S. version debuted.
