Channel 4 has canceled the U.K. version of “Married at First Sight” following allegations of sexual assault on the program, the broadcaster confirmed today. The series, which is based on an Australian format, involves experts matching two strangers who meet on their wedding day and move in together immediately.
The cancellation follows an investigation earlier this year by the BBC documentary strand “Panorama,” which alleged there had been three instances of sexual assault during the U.K. version of the series. The show is produced for Channel 4 by the production company CPL. Following those allegations, one man was arrested on suspicion of rape. All the men accused have denied the allegations.
As a result of the cancellation, Season 6, which has already been filmed, will not be broadcast. Additionally, the spin-off series “Second Married at First Sight,” which was in pre-production with casting due to take place over the summer, has also been canceled. Channel 4 has removed previous seasons of the show from its streaming platforms, though international versions remain available.
Channel 4 commissioned two separate reviews following the investigation, both of which have now concluded. Law firm Clyde & Co examined whether welfare protocols sufficiently fulfilled Channel 4’s duty of care obligations as set out by the media regulator Ofcom. A second review was conducted by former BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey to determine whether changes to the show would “strengthen contributor welfare.”
Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra, who was appointed just a few months before the allegations came to light, stated that while both reviews effectively clear Channel 4 of wrongdoing, the changes Heggessey proposed to strengthen welfare protocols – such as 24/7 recording and housing participants in separate bedrooms on their wedding night – would make it too onerous to continue.
Dogra stated that the show’s budget will be re-invested in other shows. “Whilst the review praised the welfare protocols in place and made no findings that Channel 4 breached the Ofcom Code or 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 in a statement. “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 added that “Channel 4 has always thrived on reinvention and this is a moment to kickstart a new era of creative renewal, using the considerable budget to find the next generation of distinctive and disruptive British television.”
Ofcom has launched its own investigation into the show concerning “fairness and privacy.”
