The U.K. version of the “Married At First Sight” reality franchise will no longer air on Channel 4 after allegations that two women were raped during the production of the show.
asserted
women → air → show
Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra confirmed in a statement Thursday the network was cutting ties with the reality series following an external review of the allegations made while filming its sixth season.
asserted
network → confirm → season
The review found no wrongdoing by the network or the show’s production company, CPL, but Dogra said that the “right course was to bring Married At First Sight UK on Channel 4 to an end.”
asserted
course → find → end
“Whilst the review praised the welfare protocols in place and made no findings that ... the format is inherently unsafe, I have to consider when is the right time for Channel 4 to move on from a format,” Dogra said.
asserted
Dogra → praise → format
The rape allegations were first revealed this summer in a BBC Panorama investigation.
asserted
allegations → reveal → investigation
One of the two women alleged that the husband she was matched with raped her and threatened her with an acid attack, according to the BBC.
uncertain
she → allege → BBC
A third woman accused her onscreen husband of sexual misconduct.
asserted
woman → accuse → misconduct
All three men involved denied the allegations.
asserted
men → involve → allegations
The premise of “Married At First Sight” is that a group of contestants agree to be matched with complete strangers and meet at the altar. Couples are then followed by the cameras as they navigate their relationship and discuss their problems on air with the show’s counselors.
asserted
they → agree → counselors
Version of the show have aired across the world, including the U.S., Australia, France, and Spain.
asserted
Version → air → U.S.
Channel 4 hired a law firm to review safety protocols at the time of the alleged sexual misconduct and how the production company handled them once they were raised, the company said in a press release.
asserted
company → hire → release
The network’s review did not seek “to adjudicate” the allegations, which it said “remain a matter for the relevant authorities.”
asserted
it → seek → authorities
More than 30,000 documents were reviewed by law firm Clyde & Co in addition to hours of footage, according to Channel 4.
uncertain
documents → review → Channel
The review found that the production company and network were compliant with regulations from the U.K.’s Office of Communications.
asserted
company → find → Communications
A full version of the review was not made available but Channel 4 did provide a summary of findings, noting that the report was a “legally privileged and confidential review.”
asserted
report → make → findings
There was no overall breach of the broadcasting code, though the full “welfare framework” was not applied in some incidents, the review found.
asserted
review → be → incidents
One of the incidents included contributors who broke rules regarding “prohibited substances” but were given a warning rather than being removed.
asserted
who → include → warning
A report from former BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey, who was asked to examine if any protocols should be changed, said that there are elements of the show that could put pressure on individuals to be physically intimate.
uncertain
that → ask → individuals
She recommended that the show consider discontinuing events such as Intimacy Week and Partner Swap Week.
asserted
show → recommend → Week
Heggessey’s report said that the show’s stars could “become dependent on production and lose touch with reality,” which could affect decision-making.
uncertain
which → say → making
She also recommended the show consider changing the mechanism in place that forces a couple to remain for another week if one person in a couple wants to leave but the other asks to stay during their weekly commitment ceremonies.
asserted
other → recommend → ceremonies
Among some of the recommendations were to install video and recording equipment in couple’s apartments to be monitored 24/7, provide couple’s separate bedrooms, provide “panic buttons,” and allow contributors to have at least one unsupervised visit back home during production.
asserted
contributors → install → production
The network said the full implementation of the recommendations “would entail a materially greater level of intervention, monitoring and supervision that would fundamentally alter the format and editorial proposition of the programme.”
asserted
that → say → programme
“The recommendations are eminently sensible and feasible, but considering their wholesale implementation provoked fundamental questions about the editorial proposition of a show that, I believe, has now run its course over ten years,” Dogra said.
asserted
Dogra → consider → years
Dogra said that the money budgeted for the series would be reinvested into finding “the next generation of distinctive and disruptive British television.”
asserted
money → say → television
She thanked the staff who worked on the series and credited them for their “significant efforts to protect the welfare of contributors.”
asserted
who → thank → contributors
The production company, CPL, said it understood Channel 4’s decision to part ways with the reality program, according to Sky News.
uncertain
it → say → News
It emphasized in its statement that Heggessey’s report found the welfare protocols to be “extensive, extremely thorough and of a high standard.”
asserted
protocols → emphasize → standard
“CPL has always put contributor welfare at the heart of its programme making and will continue to do so,” the company said.
asserted
company → put → making
The show’s Australia series has been criticized for subjecting contestants to potentially harmful situations, including a man who had a history of domestic abuse allegations.
asserted
who → criticize → allegations
While the allegations were dismissed before filming began, the woman who was matched with him told The Guardian in June that the show “obviously needed a better vetting process.”
asserted
show → dismiss → process
“We are strangers sleeping in a bedroom on our own on the first night, you’ve got no security, you’re by yourselves,” Awhina Rutene told the outlet.
asserted
Rutene → sleep → outlet
She added that she was not subjected to abuse, but noted that the environment felt invasive and that physical intimacy felt “forced.”
asserted
intimacy → add → abuse
“Every morning (in interviews) they’d be like, ‘Why aren’t you having sex?’” Rutene said.
asserted
Rutene → have → sex
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has conducted 10 investigations, according to the Guardian, and no breaches of its code of practice were found.
uncertain
breaches → conduct → practice
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
asserted
you → know → 4673
The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center.
asserted
hotline → run → center
You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://www.rainn.org/get-help.
asserted
You → access → https://www.rainn.org/get-help
The Aporia
