Channel 4 cancels Married at First Sight UK after safeguarding review

Channel 4 has cancelled Married at First Sight UK and confirmed that the already filmed next series will not be broadcast. The decision follows a safeguarding review into allegations of rape and sexual misconduct made by three women who took part in the show. The men involved deny the allegations.

The allegations were first broadcast in a BBC Panorama investigation in May. Two women told the BBC they were raped by their on-screen husbands. A third woman alleged a non-consensual sex act. BBC News named Shona Manderson as the only woman who was identified, saying she alleged she was the victim of a non-consensual sex act. The BBC also reported that one woman said her on-screen husband threatened her with an acid attack.

Channel 4 commissioned a two-part external review. The first part, which BBC News said was led by law firm Clyde & Co, found that Channel 4 and the production company CPL did not breach Ofcom's broadcasting code in their handling of the issues raised. The BBC reported that it also found isolated incidents where the welfare framework was not fully implemented. The second part concluded that the show could reasonably continue with adjustments. Channel 4 News reported that this part was headed by former BBC executive Lorraine Heggessey.

The review recommended extensive changes. Channel 4 News reported that these included putting couples in separate bedrooms, making the honeymoon a getting-to-know-you phase with couples opting in to share a room, reviewing how often couples are asked about the physical side of their relationship, and removing intimacy week and partner swap week. It also recommended lockable bedrooms, 24-7 CCTV monitoring, panic buttons, consent training and better evaluation of participants. ITV reported that the review raised concerns about format elements that put pressure on contestants to be physically intimate and a rule that an individual could not leave unless their partner agreed.

Priya Dogra, Channel 4's chief executive, said the show had run its course. Channel 4 News reported that she called the recommendations sensible and feasible but said they would result in a different programme. She apologised again to the women for the distress they had felt and said the budget would be reinvested in new programming. Channel 4 News reported that Dogra and the channel's chair will appear before the Commons Digital Culture, Media and Sport Committee later this month, and that the committee chair said wider lessons on reality TV needed to be learned and acted upon.

The BBC's culture correspondent Noor Nanji, who led the investigation, reported that the women felt relief and believed they had been listened to. The BBC reported that questions remain about what Channel 4 did when it was first warned about the allegations by the production company, and that only a summary of the review has been published. An Ofcom investigation is ongoing, and a male cast member was arrested in June on suspicion of rape. Channel 5 reported that Channel 4 removed all episodes after the claims were aired.