Channel 4 ends 10-year Married at First Sight UK run

Channel 4 cancelled Married at First Sight UK on Thursday after a 10-year run, The Guardian reported in a Nov. 5 news article, following reviews tied to three allegations during production.

The decision removes one of Channel 4’s biggest hits, which Chief Executive Priya Dogra said had been watched by millions of viewers, and stops series six from being broadcast.

The reviews followed allegations aired by the BBC’s Panorama in May. Two women alleged they were raped during filming of the reality series, while a third alleged she was subjected to a non-consensual sex act.

“MAFS UK has been enjoyed by millions of viewers, made possible by the willingness of its contributors to embrace the social experiment at the heart of the show and the many talented people involved in its production,” Dogra said on Thursday.

Channel 4 had already removed all episodes from streaming and linear services, along with the show’s social-media channels, after the Panorama broadcast. The format paired single people who met for the first time on their wedding day, though the marriages were not legally binding.

One review, overseen by former BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey, found it would be reasonable to keep making the show with changes to its format and stronger contributor-welfare safeguards. Dogra said applying the recommendations in full would require intervention, monitoring and supervision that would fundamentally alter the format.

“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.

A second review, led by law firm Clyde & Co, examined the welfare protocols in place at the time of the allegations reported by Panorama. According to Channel 4, that review found the protocols were compliant with Ofcom’s broadcasting code on the evidence available and on the balance of probabilities, with no finding that the code had been breached.

The legal review found “isolated incidents where the welfare framework was not fully implemented,” according to The Guardian. It also found that Channel 4 and production company CPL could have conducted a more structured long-term review across multiple series and identified areas for improvement.

Channel 4 said series six, which was in production when the review was commissioned, will not air because it was not made under the strengthened protocols now recommended. Second Married at First Sight, a planned spin-off that had been in pre-production with CPL before being paused, will not resume production.

Dogra said the reviews were not tasked with investigating the allegations made in Panorama. “I would like to repeat that I am very sorry for the distress those women have clearly felt,” she said.