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00:05It's one of Channel 4's biggest shows.
00:08You are matched with your perfect person.
00:12You don't know who this person is.
00:14And then you walk down the aisle and this person is waiting for you.
00:17A brand new set of brave singles put their hearts on the line
00:21in TV's most extraordinary experiment.
00:25It's quite bingeable, you're fully invested.
00:27And I think it creates a bit of a kind of a guilty pleasure.
00:32But is there a darker side to Married at First Sight UK?
00:38Women have told Panorama they were abused by their on-screen husbands.
00:43I said no. He smirked, climbed on top of me, moved my leg
00:48and just proceeded to have sex with me anyway.
00:52And that the show didn't do enough to protect them.
00:55He said that if I told anybody, he would get someone to throw acid at me.
01:04Now there are questions for Channel 4 about the format of its hit show, Married at First Sight.
01:12There are high levels of risk and they're certainly not being managed properly.
01:27I thought, why not try something different?
01:33I don't feel like I'm meeting the love of my life in Nottingham.
01:36Why not? Let's go on maths.
01:40Shona Manderson was a performing arts teacher when she signed up for Married at First Sight UK,
01:46also known as Maths.
01:48I do struggle because I fall for people really fast.
01:53Maths UK is made for Channel 4 by a production company called CPL.
01:57It's made programmes for other broadcasters, including the BBC.
02:02Shona was matched with Bradley Skelly, at the time a meditation teacher from Grimsby.
02:12I am nervous.
02:14A little voice in my head saying, ooh, what if he doesn't like you?
02:19Just as the show's title promises, the couple first met at a mock wedding.
02:25Oh, my God!
02:26Hello, babe.
02:27Oh, my God.
02:29I just felt really excited on the wedding day.
02:31I felt like it was just something wild that I was doing.
02:36The first kiss of our newly joined couple, Shona Abra.
02:41Our first kiss was magical.
02:44I honestly thought he was, at the beginning, some kind of rock star.
02:50After a honeymoon in the Maldives...
02:53Home sweet home.
02:54Yay!
02:56They were sent to live in a block of flats in London, with the show's other couples.
03:02They shared an apartment.
03:05And a bed.
03:07And were filmed almost every day.
03:14Including dissecting their relationship for the cameras.
03:19You sit on a couch, speaking to the three experts,
03:23and sharing your experience so far each week by week.
03:29And discussing their sex lives.
03:31Would you say there was a spark physically?
03:34Shona says she and her on-screen husband were having sex.
03:37Absolutely, yes.
03:38Bradley talked openly about wanting to do things that pushed her boundaries.
03:43I'd say I'm very explorative.
03:45Always have been really wanting to try all avenues and new experiences.
03:50And, you know, you've been finding things out that you've really enjoyed, so...
03:53Yes, but taking our time.
03:55Mm.
03:56And there's some things I definitely won't do.
03:58And he knows that.
04:01After a couple of weeks living together...
04:04Cheers!
04:06Tensions surfaced at one of the show's set-piece dinner parties.
04:10You need to let it go.
04:12You want to read me?
04:14Oh!
04:15Wow!
04:23Later that night, Shona says Bradley went too far during sex.
04:28In bed, we were being intimate, consensual, completely consensual.
04:35And we were having sex.
04:37And a boundary was crossed completely.
04:41My partner came inside me without my consent.
04:45We had agreed that we were pulling out.
04:48I was shocked, I was confused.
04:50We said that we weren't doing that.
04:54Shona didn't immediately tell anyone what had happened.
04:57Around the same time, the show's experts were picking up
05:00on how Bradley was speaking to her in a controlling way.
05:04Brad is using words like,
05:06I will allow you to, and let you.
05:10Absolutely.
05:11Do you notice that you're using that sort of language here tonight?
05:13100%.
05:13I feel like that's what I want to do.
05:15Do you know, I want to allow her to have the space and...
05:17No, but you don't need to allow her to do anything.
05:19No, no, of course not.
05:20We're calling this out because these are the kind of patterns
05:23that can become dangerous.
05:24It sounds like Brad that you're quite open to taking on that feedback.
05:29Yeah.
05:32Like many TV productions,
05:34Maths UK has a welfare team and psychological support
05:37to help look after the cast.
05:40Being on a reality show can have a very detrimental side
05:44to your personal life and to your mental health.
05:45And the industry has a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of people
05:51who participate on shows,
05:52that you are supposed to have mental health support
05:54and that you are supposed to have a person on the production
05:57who you can raise concerns to.
06:00After the incident with Bradley, Shona was taken to get the morning after pill.
06:06It just felt quite practical, quite quick.
06:10When you spoke to Welfare, did you tell them that it was consensual or not?
06:14And if not, did they ask you?
06:15So I can't fully remember my exact conversation.
06:18It's all very blurry that time.
06:23Lawyers for CPL say a few days later,
06:26the production company spoke to her and Bradley.
06:30They say Shona told them what had happened
06:32and that Bradley hadn't asked for permission to ejaculate inside her.
06:37They say Shona later told CPL she didn't have an issue with it.
06:42They also say Bradley told CPL he was wearing a condom.
06:46Bradley's lawyers subsequently told Panorama he wasn't.
06:53Baroness Kennedy is a highly experienced criminal lawyer
06:56and is chair of a new watchdog for the Creative Industries.
07:02We've shown her evidence, including from Shona's case.
07:06If someone has made it clear, I'm not going to have sex with you
07:09if you ejaculate into me, I do not want any risk of pregnancy,
07:14then I think that can amount to a sexual violation.
07:17That's why this kind of programme is so dangerous, I think,
07:21because the vigilance that's required of producers, of directors,
07:25of the welfare people who are around, the vigilance that's required of them
07:30is very, very real.
07:31And I think that it's fallen down here.
07:36CPL and Channel 4 decided to remove Shona and Bradley from the show.
07:40CPL's lawyers say they did this to safeguard the couple's welfare.
07:44This is not a healthy relationship.
07:49And I know you know this.
07:52But this is not working. It's just not.
07:59Bradley Skelly says he understood Shona had consented that night.
08:03He categorically denies any allegations of sexual misconduct
08:08or that he was controlling.
08:10He says their relationship was based on mutual consent, care and affection.
08:17The couple stayed together for six weeks after leaving the show.
08:23Looking back, Shona thinks she deserved better welfare support from CPL.
08:30What would you say to people who say,
08:32well, it's just reality TV and didn't you expect something like this to happen?
08:35I don't think that because you're going on reality TV,
08:39you deserve in any way for things like this to happen to you.
08:43And you are due, like, the duty of care that you deserve.
08:52CPL's lawyers say it took appropriate measures to safeguard Shona's wellbeing.
08:59Channel 4 says Shona was clear at the time that all sexual contact was consensual.
09:06Ladies and gentlemen, it's Blind Date.
09:09TV dating shows have changed a lot since Cilla Black was matchmaking.
09:14Hello and welcome to a brand new series of Blind Date.
09:18We all remember the days of Blind Date,
09:20which were studio programmes quite kind of Saturday night.
09:23Then I think what we've seen are the rise of shows like Maths,
09:28which are very much the opposite end.
09:30High stakes, emotional drama.
09:32I mean, that is a way to kind of grab you in.
09:37More dramatic formats can bring greater risk.
09:42Professor Helen Wood is leading a three-year study on welfare in reality TV.
09:48She's interviewed some former Maths cast members
09:51and more than 100 other people from the world of reality TV.
09:56The highest risk is on shows where people are taken into an unnatural environment.
10:03Their contact with the outside world is removed from them.
10:08Those kinds of productions need a kind of robust welfare set of protocols
10:13and they need a robust welfare system.
10:19After two former contestants from the ITV show Love Island took their own lives,
10:25the regulator Ofcom introduced new rules to protect contributors.
10:32But the problems on TV shows kept coming.
10:35There have been serious allegations of bullying and misconduct on the BBC,
10:40including Strictly Come Dancing and Masterchef.
10:48Just as the new Ofcom rules came in in 2021, Maths UK was being revamped.
10:55So Married Up At First Sight UK was originally quite different,
10:59very fly on the wall, more documentary style.
11:03Now it's a very different show.
11:05How is the physical intimacy?
11:07Can you help me understand why you chose to have an affair?
11:11Much more based around confrontation.
11:14Don't speak to me like a little f***ing titty.
11:16A lot more based around high-stakes scenarios, big dinners, allegations.
11:22If this was on the outside world, you'd be blocked and deleted, darling.
11:25And realism is sort of a bit more of an afterthought.
11:31The new format has been a big success for Channel 4.
11:35Now audience figures often top 3 million.
11:39For cast members looking for fame and fortune,
11:42the show's success on social media can also be a big draw.
11:47There's audience investment in each person.
11:50You can be a part of a programme and use that to launch your own brand.
11:56But there are downsides.
11:58The format encourages the idea that you will spend time with somebody in an apartment
12:06where there aren't any alternative sleeping arrangements necessarily unless you ask for them.
12:12The bubble of the show assumes that there will be kind of intimacy.
12:17And that is a dangerous situation.
12:20Since the format changed, CPL says it's developed a comprehensive welfare system,
12:27including vetting before casting, psychological checks, oversight by a trained welfare team,
12:34access to psychologists and ongoing support.
12:38.
12:43My hope was to find someone kind and nice.
12:49We're using an actor to voice the words of a woman who appeared on Married at First Sight UK
12:55and wants to remain anonymous.
12:57We're calling her Lizzie.
12:59We're not revealing some details to protect her identity.
13:04We left for our honeymoon and that's when the red flag started.
13:11During the honeymoon, Lizzie says her on-screen husband often lost his temper.
13:16He would have these, like, toddler-style tantrums
13:20and he would just explode.
13:24He would go into this absolute focus anger.
13:30He spoke about how he and his ex were violent towards each other.
13:35Lizzie was worried and told CPL's welfare team.
13:39Lawyers for CPL told us when welfare spoke to her on-screen husband,
13:44he told them he'd been the victim of violence, not the perpetrator.
13:48They say CPL discussed this with Lizzie,
13:51who told them she didn't feel at risk.
13:55By then, Lizzie had already started sleeping with her on-screen husband,
13:59but says the sex soon turned violent.
14:03When we were alone in the apartment, he kept bruising me during sex.
14:09I kept saying stop, but he carried on and this would happen every time we'd had sex after this point.
14:20If that's not what was happening, then he was just awful.
14:24It got to the stage that I was so aware that that was what was going to keep him in
14:30a good mood,
14:31that it was whatever he wanted, kind of thing.
14:37Lizzie says she was too scared to tell anyone about her on-screen husband's behaviour.
14:44He said that if I told anybody what had happened, that he would get someone to throw acid at me.
15:02I tried to speak to my husband.
15:06I said, let's bring everything up to the experts,
15:10but he threw a temper tantrum and threatened to leave.
15:19That night, he attacked me.
15:25We were in our apartment on the sofa, and he tried to have sex with me.
15:32And I kept saying no, that I didn't want to do it.
15:35But he kept saying, you can't say no, you're my wife.
15:39And just did it anyway.
15:41It was penetrative sex.
15:44I had fingerprints from where he grabbed me and forced me.
15:50I just completely froze with fear.
15:55I never thought that anything could scare me that much.
16:04The following morning, Lizzie decided she had to do something.
16:08She contacted Welfare and then spoke to them at length in person.
16:13As soon as he'd left the apartment, I texted Welfare and told them
16:18how he'd said, I can't say no because I'm his wife,
16:23and how he'd threatened to get someone to throw acid at me.
16:32I only didn't tell them about the attack.
16:37Welfare came to my room, and I showed them the bruises,
16:41and pretty quickly, it was taken further.
16:46They took me upstairs to an office for about six hours
16:54with various members of the welfare team,
16:57and one of them took photos of my bruises.
17:02Lawyers for CPL say the bruises were described to them
17:05as being the result of consensual but rough sex.
17:09They say Lizzie didn't tell them about her on-screen husband,
17:13saying she couldn't say no to him.
17:16The acid-throwing remark was reported as a passing comment,
17:20not a threat,
17:21and CPL acted immediately once Lizzie said she felt unsafe.
17:26They also say her on-screen husband passed vetting.
17:33I got so wrapped up in it all that I kind of lost what reality was actually like,
17:39and I was just so kind of brainwashed by him and his mentality
17:44that I kind of felt stuck.
17:48Before the series finished airing,
17:50Lizzie sent a message to a welfare producer
17:53saying she'd been sexually assaulted.
17:56Lawyers for CPL have told Panorama
17:58they followed this up with Lizzie
18:00and took it to be a reference to the rough but consensual sex
18:04previously reported to them.
18:07After the show went out,
18:09she spoke to the mass production psychiatrist
18:11and told him she'd been raped.
18:15After airing, I took a total nosedive with everything
18:20because of how it came across.
18:24I was speaking to him quite regularly
18:27and then it got to the point that I was so low
18:32and it was the kind of then that I realised
18:36that I had to start being honest with what had happened.
18:41That's when I started telling people about the attack.
18:46The first person I told was the psychiatrist
18:48and he then told people in welfare.
18:56CPL then offered to pay for her to have residential therapy.
19:01Lizzie refused and stopped all contact.
19:05What would you call that attack now?
19:07How would you describe it?
19:09I still struggle to say it.
19:13I think it is a rape
19:16but it's still something that I struggle to label it as.
19:22This is televised abuse.
19:24I mean, this is a playing out of the stuff that we know
19:28which is that people who are abusive
19:31and controlling and coercive
19:33put fear in the hearts of the person that they are abusing
19:36and the person they're abusing then is silenced.
19:40Lawyers for Lizzie's on-screen husband
19:42say he denies rape and says all sexual contact
19:45was entirely consensual.
19:48They say he also denies being violent towards her
19:51or making violent threats to her.
19:55Lizzie now wants to pursue a legal claim against CPL.
20:00She sought support from the welfare team
20:05and disclosed his volatile behaviour towards her.
20:10They continued with the show
20:11and the behaviour then escalated.
20:15What I think it really demonstrated
20:17was a lack of curiosity,
20:20a lack of the ability to ask important questions
20:24and the failure to implement basic safeguarding measures.
20:31Channel 4 says it was only made aware of the rape allegation
20:35after the series had gone out
20:36and it would be wrong to assess contemporaneous
20:39welfare and editorial decision-making
20:41by Channel 4 and CPL
20:43based on knowledge they did not have at the time.
20:58I genuinely just thought it'd be fun if nothing else.
21:01I was in the market for a husband.
21:03We're also using an actor
21:05to voice the words of another woman
21:07who appeared on Maths UK.
21:09We're calling her Chloe.
21:11We're not revealing some details
21:12to protect her identity.
21:15Why are you speaking up now?
21:17I need CPL to stop allowing harm to come to people.
21:24After the honeymoon,
21:26Chloe moved in with her on-screen husband.
21:29One morning, she says he woke her up by groping her.
21:33He'd, like, taken off the blanket
21:34and grabbed my breasts and grabbed my bum
21:38and jumped on the bed
21:39and, like, I was saying,
21:40no, no, stop, stop that
21:42because I'd been asleep.
21:44And then he got angry and mad at me.
21:49Chloe spoke to the welfare team.
21:52Lawyers for CPL say she told them
21:54she was not uncomfortable
21:56and felt safe
21:57and asked them not to discuss it
21:59with her on-screen husband.
22:04The couple started having sex.
22:06The couple started having sex
22:07once, she says, without her consent.
22:11One morning, he'd said, should we have sex?
22:14And I said, no.
22:16He smirked and, like, climbed on top of me,
22:20moved my leg and just, you know,
22:23proceeded to have sex with me anyway.
22:26By that time, I'd, like, really given up
22:29and I'd sort of, I just didn't want him to be angry at me
22:32when the cameras came.
22:33I just lay there
22:35and I stared out the window.
22:38I guess he recognised that I wasn't participating
22:40and was like, do you not want this?
22:42And I said, I told you I didn't want this.
22:46And he got very angry and was like,
22:48you should have shouted and screamed,
22:50you should have pushed me off,
22:51you should have said no.
22:52And I said, I did say no.
22:57And then he was like,
22:59you're making me feel like a rapist.
23:00You're scaring me.
23:02You're frightening me.
23:04And I was like, I don't think this is my fault.
23:12Lawyers for Chloe's on-screen husband
23:14say he challenges details of her account.
23:18They say the sex started consensually,
23:21but Chloe communicated through her body language
23:24that she'd withdrawn consent
23:25and he then stopped immediately.
23:28They say he also denies groping her.
23:31I switched something off inside of me
23:33where I was just like,
23:34that could not have happened.
23:37I don't want to be someone that that's happened to.
23:41So I just sort of buried it.
23:47After she finished filming the series,
23:49Chloe saw the show Psychiatrist.
23:52Only then, she says,
23:53did she feel safe enough to talk about it.
23:57I don't like using the word,
23:58but the psychiatrist,
24:00when I eventually found the courage
24:02to tell someone from the show,
24:04he named it rape.
24:06Like, he said it was rape.
24:10I accept that it's not when someone thinks of rape,
24:14they don't think of it as this type of thing.
24:16But it is.
24:17That's what it is.
24:18You know, it's no question.
24:20I said no.
24:21I said I wasn't up for it.
24:25Lawyers for CPL say the Maffs UK psychiatrist
24:28viewed Chloe's allegations as serious and concerning.
24:32CPL then told Channel 4.
24:36Do women always disclose
24:38being sexually assaulted or raped
24:41at the time when it happened?
24:43Often women at the time
24:44will not make the complaint
24:46because of the sense of shame that you have,
24:49that somehow it's your fault.
24:51It takes a while to come to terms with
24:53what was done to me wasn't right.
24:57Before the series was broadcast,
24:59Chloe complained directly to Channel 4
25:01about what she says happened to her
25:03and how it was handled by CPL.
25:07Channel 4 said, after a thorough review,
25:10it found CPL had followed the welfare procedures.
25:17By the time she got this response,
25:19the series was already being broadcast.
25:22She says watching the show
25:24had a devastating impact on her.
25:27After I left the show,
25:29I just felt I completely lost my grip
25:32and I had intrusive thoughts of my own death
25:35and then when the show went out,
25:39that really intensified into like...
25:42into suicidal thoughts,
25:44which is not something I'd ever had before.
25:48It was frightening.
25:53None of the women we've spoken to
25:55have reported their allegations to the police.
26:00I've considered going to the police,
26:02but it's not likely that anything would ever happen.
26:08Lawyers for CPL say
26:10they followed their welfare protocols,
26:12they took Chloe's concerns during filming seriously
26:15and that before she made the rape allegation,
26:18she told CPL all sexual activity
26:20was fully consensual.
26:23They say Chloe was supported
26:25throughout the process and afterwards
26:27and that she didn't ask to be removed
26:30from the show as broadcast.
26:33They say CPL's welfare system
26:35is gold standard and industry-leading.
26:38Channel 4 says decisions were taken
26:41on a case-by-case basis,
26:43taking into account the information
26:45available at the time.
26:47It says the three women
26:48who have spoken to Panorama
26:50gave repeated assurances
26:52they felt safe, happy
26:54and wanted to continue in the process.
26:57Channel 4 says all the allegations
26:59are wholly uncorroborated and disputed.
27:05Baroness Kennedy is now calling on Channel 4
27:08to take action.
27:11I think Channel 4 really should be
27:14bringing in some sort of
27:15investigatory team
27:18to have a look at this
27:20and it should always be external.
27:21What do you think should happen
27:23with Married at First Sight?
27:25Well, I personally don't think
27:27it should be on air at all.
27:29I just don't see
27:30the right kind of protections
27:32being put in place
27:34that would absolutely guarantee
27:36a prevention of the things
27:38that we've been hearing about.
27:41The women who've spoken out
27:42in this film
27:43would now like things to change.
27:46I want to share my story
27:48in hope that it can
27:50actually start a serious conversation
27:52about moving forward
27:54and putting more things in place
27:56because at the end of the day
27:57I shouldn't have been in that situation.
28:02I don't think they have any care
28:04for anyone or anything
28:05that happens to anyone
28:06on that show.
28:09Channel 4 are commissioning this programme.
28:11They have a duty of care
28:13to the people that take part.
28:15They need to be called out.
28:16They need to be accountable.
28:19Many reality TV shows
28:21thrive on conflict and drama.
28:23Some who've taken part
28:24in Married at First Sight
28:25say it shouldn't come
28:27at their expense.
28:56Transcription by CastingWords
29:02CastingWords