Two women on the show have the accused the men they were partnered with of rape.
A former Married At First Sight UK psychologist has said she does not think the series should have been broadcast, after women made allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Shona Manderson accused her on-screen partner of sexual misconduct while on the Channel 4 show, while two other women alleged they were raped by their on-screen husbands, while speaking in a BBC Panorama documentary. All three men deny the allegations.
Asked for her reaction to the allegations, Dr Jo Hemmings told Channel 4 News: “My immediate reaction was that I don’t think the series should have been broadcast.
“My second reaction was probably that an investigation needs to be launched pretty urgently.
“And I suppose my third response was, where on earth in a pretty tight welfare system did that situation, how was it able to fall through the net, and that’s something I don’t have the answer to at the moment.”
The show, which is produced for Channel 4 by independent production company, CPL, sees single people matched by experts and then “marry”, with couples meeting for the first time on their wedding day.
The “marriages” on the show are not legally binding but the couples go on a “honeymoon” and move in together after their weddings.
Asked what she would have done had the allegations been raised with her during her time on the show, Dr Hemmings said she would have spoken to the producer, adding, “my absolute concern is always the welfare of the contributor, I’m not really bothered about whether a show goes ahead or not”.
She went on to say that when she worked on the show there was a “very robust vetting procedure involved” and added that if anyone was not “resilient enough to go on the show” they would not have been allowed on it, but said, “you can’t be 100% sure in terms of predictability, how someone is going to behave”.
Dr Hemmings added: “Every reality TV series, barring perhaps The Traitors, that’s gentle and kind, and we all enjoy it, doesn’t have to be full of conflict.
“But people want to increase the level of controversy as series go on, and I think this is where the direction of travel is wrong.
“I think we’ve got to bring it back to something, which is, for want of a better word, it’s more wholesome.
“I don’t want it traveling down a road, particularly when it evolves intimate relationships, where conflict, controversy, combative behaviour, becomes the name of the game. This is not the way reality TV should go.”
It comes after police urged potential victims of sexual assault on the reality TV show to come forward, saying they had not received any criminal reports in relation to the allegations, and adding that police would be speaking to the relevant production teams.
Ms Manderson’s on-screen partner, Bradley Skelly, told Panorama he categorically denies “any allegations of sexual misconduct, or that he was controlling”.
Channel 4 said in a statement released on Monday: “In April, Channel 4 was presented with serious allegations of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied.”
Ms Manderson, the only woman of the three who is identified, appeared on the programme in 2023.
Shortly before the Panorama episode aired, Channel 4 announced it had commissioned an external review into contributor welfare last month, which it expects to report in the coming months.
Lawyers for CPL reportedly told the BBC its welfare system is “gold standard” and it acted appropriately.
Channel 4 and CPL has been approached for comment.
