The chief executive of Ofcom, Dame Melanie Dawes, has stated that allegations of rape and sexual assault made by contestants on Married At First Sight (MAFS) UK raise “really serious concerns”. She added that the regulator is prepared to tighten its guidance on reality shows if necessary.
Former participant Shona Manderson has accused her on-screen partner of sexual misconduct during the Channel 4 programme. Two other anonymous women have alleged they were raped by their on-screen husbands. All three men deny the allegations.
Ofcom's Response
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Dame Melanie was asked about the regulator’s responsibility following the claims, which were featured in a BBC Panorama programme. She explained: “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 it 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's Actions
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 stated that reports of the show being cancelled are “wholly inaccurate” and “no decision has been made” regarding the broadcast of the next series. According to Channel 4’s chief content officer, Ian Katz, new episodes of MAFS UK have been “substantially filmed” and are currently being edited.
Parliamentary Scrutiny
On Wednesday, MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee wrote to both Channel 4 and Ofcom regarding their response to the allegations raised in the BBC documentary. Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage described the accusations as “horrifying” and stated: “Both Channel 4 and Ofcom, as the broadcasting regulator, have urgent questions to answer.” The letter to Channel 4 inquires about its complaints process for contestants on the programme, the steps taken to ensure the allegations were fully investigated, and the review announced by the broadcaster. It also questions the broadcaster about its approach to duty of care for participants on its other reality TV programmes.
Police have urged potential victims of sexual assault on the TV show to come forward.
