Married at First Sight Australia Faces Controversy Over Concealing Partners' Violent Pasts

After an investigation by the BBC revealed accusations of rape and assault on the production of the reality TV series Married at First Sight, a similar controversy has engulfed the Australian edition of the show. A new BBC report says that stars of the programme, wherein two strangers “marry” without meeting one another then see if they can make the relationship work, concealed some important truths about their new partners.

One former contestant said she had not been told that her partner had been arrested and sentenced in 2014 for multiple drug-related offences. This left her feeling unsafe and wondering why the producers did not inform her of this before they “married.” Another former contestant told the BBC that she was left traumatised by her experience on the show after she was matched with a man with a brutal temper and later discovered that he had behaved aggressively in the past. Producers knew all about this, she said, and they experienced it first-hand when the man threw an object at them during production.

One former contestant had a conviction for affray (a term for public disorderly conduct), and had been acquitted of domestic violence. Another from the most recent season was previously found guilty of common assault. Channel 9 and Endemol Shine Australia, the network and production company behind Married at First Sight Australia, told the BBC that they had “strong protocols in place to ensure participant safety and wellbeing.” Regarding these allegations, they claimed that there is “a structured, multi-stage checking process that every participant must complete and clear.”

Some people have incidents in their pasts that they regret. They can change and move on. That’s a good thing. Society depends on our ability to make that happen. But surely someone at this network knew the optics of pairing up women with total strangers who had violent offences in their pasts would be bad? A show like this is dependent on creating drama, not making love matches. The contestants know that on some level, but they also assume that there will be proper safety checks in place. Did these producers see these convictions and think it could lead to some memorable on-screen drama? There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered here.

This comes mere weeks after it was revealed that two former cast members of Married at First Sight UK alleged that their on-screen partners had raped them. Senior staff on that show said that the emphasis on sex from crew and producers was “unhealthy.” Crew members made bets on who would sleep together first, they said, adding, “They would high five each other when [the contestants] did.” Producers would claim it “wasn’t good for storylines” if the contestants weren’t having sex.

All of this seems like these women were set up to fail, to be brutally treated by both the men they were paired up with and the producers who wanted drama. Even by the knowingly manipulative standards of reality TV, Married at First Sight is bleak. They wanted an endless cavalcade of domestic drama and they thought it wouldn’t lead to real-world damage or any kind of emotional or physical trauma. And I’ve already seen fans of the show blaming the women or saying they somehow deserved it because they agreed to be on TV. How is anyone supposed to make an informed decision if the producers’ modus operandi is to keep you in the dark for as long as possible?