After years of scandals, sexism and toxicity, fresh allegations from Married at First Sight UK could be the final nail in the coffin for the franchise, writes Alex Casey.  

This article discusses instances of sexual and domestic violence, please take care.

It started off so sweetly and so Scandinavian. The Danish social experiment called Gift ved Første Blik began in 2013, bringing together an expert panel of two psychologists, an anthropologist and a priest to match vying singles who would meet, and marry, at the altar. Comprising of only three couples and lasting just eight episodes, the series was a true social experiment that observed the couples getting to know each other without the need for meddling confession boxes, intimacy week challenges or booze-soaked dinner parties. 

Over a decade later, the show is practically unrecognisable from the wide-eyed innocence of those early experimental seasons. As Married at First Sight metastasized around the world, the format ballooned to much larger casts and much longer seasons, throwing in all manner of production devices to ensure as much conflict (and betrayal) as possible. It feels as if MAFS’ race to the bottom finally hit the finish line last week, after multiple women from MAFS UK alleged they were sexually assaulted by their onscreen husbands during filming.

Contestants Lizzie and Chloe, not their real names, shared eerily similar stories during Panorama’s half hour exposé “The Dark Side of Married at First Sight”. Lizzie alleged that her husband became violent during sex on their honeymoon and left her with bruises, threatening to “throw acid at me” if she was to tell anyone. In another instance, she alleged he said “you can’t say no, you’re my wife” before raping her. Chloe too alleged that, despite clearly saying no, her MAFS husband proceeded to have sex with her. Both men have denied the allegations. 

Shona Manderson from the 2023 series of MAFS UK also alleged that her then-husband Bradley Skelly committed a non-consensual sex act while they were filming the show. “We were having sex, and a boundary was crossed completely,” she said. “My partner came inside me without my consent. We had agreed that we were pulling out. I was shocked, I was confused. We said that we weren’t doing that.” Skelly’s lawyer told Panorama that Manderson had consented to the act, and categorically denied any allegations of sexual misconduct. 

These women’s stories have not just brought the response of production into question – in the case of Manderson, she was taken to get the emergency contraceptive pill the next day – but the broader problems that arise from a reality format that forces strangers into an intimate living situation. “My goodness. Allegations of rape and sexual assault have arisen from a reality show built around the conceit of strangers ‘marrying’ each other at first sight, then cohabiting in the full expectation that ‘marital’ relations will ensue,” wrote Lucy Mangan for The Guardian. “The only possible true surprise here, surely, is that this hasn’t happened before.” 

She’s right, and bleaker still is the many examples where the final product has seemingly been prioritised over the safety of participants. Just this year, MAFS Australia edited an entire couple out of the show after the groom was accused of violence against a previous partner on social media. Last year, groom Paul Antoine confessed to punching a hole in the wall in his MAFS AU apartment following an argument with wife Carina. He was put “on notice” by the experts, but ultimately allowed to see out the series. 

Even here in New Zealand, MAFSNZ groom Chris Mansfield was edited out of the show in 2019 after Stuff reported his outstanding domestic violence charges in the United States. His victim later told NZ Herald that she was pregnant at the time of the incidents, and that he “almost killed [her] a couple of times [through] strangling.” While Mediaworks said every participant is subject to a criminal record check and psychiatric assessment, they were unable to obtain information about charges or outstanding warrants under privacy law, and relied on the participants’ own disclosure.

For some grim reason audiences have been able to move on from these examples, but this recent bout of allegations feels different. Major advertisers are running for the hills. Channel 4 in the UK has removed all seasons of Married at First Sight UK from streaming platforms, and launched a full external review into the welfare of the show’s participants. It has even been escalated to a government level, with a spokesperson for British prime minister Keir Starmer saying the allegations were “extremely concerning” and must be investigated with consequences where “wrongdoing or criminality is found”.

ThreeNow has followed suit and removed all seasons of MAFS UK from its platform as of last week. “Sky made the precautionary decision to remove all seasons of Married At First Sight UK from ThreeNow, following the media reports overnight,” a Sky TV spokesperson told NZ Herald’s Media Insider. “As the allegations relate specifically to the UK production of Married At First Sight, we are not removing any other programming from our platforms at this stage.”

Still, it is going to be very hard for the rest of the franchise to shake off such a dark chapter in its history, especially when the latest seasons of Married at First Sight appear to have had no problem casting all manner of men with damaging views on women and their role in society. In MAFS AU this year, Danny said that doing something as emasculating as moving in with a woman would make him feel like a “bit of a bitch”, while the Trump-loving Tyson wanted a “submissive woman” who would do all the cooking and the cleaning and have at least five of his children.

This moment could be the nail in the coffin for Married at First Sight, and perhaps it should be. Reality romance feels like it has been in a death rattle for years now, and audience preferences are clearly changing. It’s not necessarily that we don’t want to see drama and tension on reality TV, but maybe we just don’t want to see that playing out within the most intimate relationship a person can have. Survivor is built on social strategy and manipulation and just finished its 50th season. Celebrity Treasure Island has no shortage of clashes and tears, and is now 25 years old. 

I’d argue this is why murder-mystery game The Traitors has risen through the reality ranks in recent years and eclipsed the likes of Love Island and MAFS – the conflict and betrayal is built into the format from the very beginning. It’s much easier to stomach a show filled with villains and backstabbing when you know it is an inherent part of the gameplay, rather than something that privately seeps in through the walls of those claustrophobic MAFS apartments. What it says about us in 2026 that we’d rather watch people murder each other than marry each other? I’ll leave that up to you.