British broadcaster Channel 4 removed all previous seasons of Married at First Sight – one of its flagship reality shows – on Monday after a BBC report detailing allegations of rape during the filming of the series.
Channel 4, the publicly owned but commercially funded broadcaster established in the 1980s, said it had launched a review into contributor welfare on the show, which is made by independent production company CPL, in April.
BBC News reported that two women had told the news service that they were raped during the filming of the show, while a third had described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act. They all said the show did not do enough to protect them, the report stated.
Advertisement
The report cited lawyers for CPL as saying its welfare system was “gold standard” and that it had acted appropriately in all these cases.
Channel 4 said that in April it was presented with “serious allegations” of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors, allegations “we understand those contributors have denied”.
Advertisement
In its 2024 report, Channel 4 said the show topped its streaming charts for that year. There have been 10 seasons broadcast by Channel 4 on its E4 channel and its streaming platform.