Married At First Sight allegations raise serious concerns, says Ofcom boss

By Laura Harding, Press Association Entertainment Editor

The allegations of rape and sexual assault made by contestants on Married At First Sight (MAFS) UK have raised “really serious concerns”, according to the chief executive of Ofcom.

Melanie Dawes added that the regulator will tighten its guidance around reality shows if necessary.

Former show participant Shona Manderson has accused her on-screen partner of sexual misconduct while on the Channel 4 programme, while two other anonymous women alleged they were raped by their on-screen husbands.

All three men deny the allegations.

Asked what responsibility the regulator takes following the claims, made in a BBC Panorama programme, Dame Melanie told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “What we always try to avoid is being really specific about ‘you can do this and you can’t do that’, because fundamentally the responsibility is with Channel 4 and its production company, or with ITV or BBC or whoever is producing these shows, to get this right.

“If they have not got right, this is going to be a serious issue.

“It’s very live, but it does raise really serious concerns. If we need to tighten our guidance then we absolutely will.”

She continued: “Sometimes we do have these wake-up calls where, as a country, we just go, ‘This has gone too far.'”

Channel 4 launched a review into contributor welfare last month, shortly after being contacted by the BBC regarding the accusations featured in the Panorama episode.

Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra has said reports the show had been cancelled are “wholly inaccurate” and “no decision has been made” regarding the broadcast of the next series.

New episodes of MAFS UK have been “substantially filmed” and are currently being edited, according to the channel’s chief content officer, Ian Katz.

On Wednesday, MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee wrote to Channel 4 and Ofcom about their response to allegations raised in the BBC documentary.

Committee chairwoman Caroline Dinenage called the accusations “horrifying”, adding: “Both Channel 4 and Ofcom, as the broadcasting regulator, have urgent questions to answer.”

The letter to Channel 4 asks about its complaints process for contestants on the programme and the steps taken to ensure the allegations were fully investigated, along with the review announced by the broadcaster.

It also questions the broadcaster about its approach to duty of care to participants on its other reality TV programmes.

Police have urged potential victims of sexual assault on the TV show to get in touch.