Channel 4 cancels MAFS UK despite no Ofcom breach — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Channel 4 axed Married at First Sight UK after two women alleged they were raped during filming and a third alleged a nonconsensual sex act, following the May airing of Panorama.
- Lorraine Heggessey described the existing contributor-welfare safeguards as “extensive, extremely thorough and of a high standard,” and found it reasonable to continue the show with enhancements and format changes.
- Priya Dogra said implementing every recommendation would fundamentally alter the format, said the 10-year show had run its course, and noted the reviews were not tasked with investigating Panorama’s allegations.
- Clyde & Co found isolated incidents where welfare protocols were not fully implemented, while Channel 4 said the review concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that the protocols complied with Ofcom and no code breach was found.
- Lia Perin, the lawyer representing one contributor featured on Panorama, said the findings “raise more questions than they answer” and argued the format heightened conflict, pressured contestants toward intimacy and made them dependent on production.
- Married at First Sight UK series six will not be broadcast because it was not made under the recommended strengthened protocols; the Second Married at First Sight spin-off, paused after pre-production with CPL, will not resume, and all episodes and social channels have been removed.
Why it matters: Channel 4 said the Clyde & Co review found no Ofcom breach, while the Heggessey review found it reasonable to continue with enhanced safeguards and format changes. But wholesale implementation would fundamentally alter the format, keeping series six off air and halting Second Married at First Sight.
Ask SkimNews
