Married at First Sight UK cast member arrested on suspicion of rape

A cast member from Married at First Sight UK has been arrested on suspicion of rape, after claims of sexual misconduct on the reality TV show.

The individual and the alleged victim are not being named. Alleged victims of rape have the legal protection of anonymity.

In May the Metropolitan police issued a plea for anyone who believed they may have been a victim of sexual assault during their time on the show to come forward.

Senior officers made the call after a BBC Panorama investigation aired allegations by two women that they had been raped by their on-screen husbands on the show. A third woman accused her on-screen husband of subjecting her to a non-consensual sex act. All the men deny the claims.

Since the programme aired, the BBC has said it has been contacted by former Married at First Sight UK participants raising concerns.

In a new statement to BBC News, the Met said: “This [arrest] relates to an ongoing investigation being led by the Met police. He has since been bailed while inquiries remain ongoing.”

The force has already been in touch with Channel 4, which broadcasts the show, and CPL, the independent production company that makes the show for the broadcaster.

Priya Dogra, Channel 4’s chief executive, has stood by the broadcaster’s treatment of concerns raised by contestants, but has also said she is “deeply sorry” for the distress of female participants who have made allegations of rape and sexual misconduct.

Channel 4 has ordered two investigations. One is looking at its handling of complaints made by contestants. A second will look at whether safeguarding protocols need to change in the future.

In Married at First Sight, known as MAFS, strangers are matched by experts and meet for the first time at a mock marriage ceremony. They are housed together during the programme and decide whether or not they wish to stay together.

Lawyers for CPL have previously said its welfare system for the show was “gold standard” and industry leading.

It has also said that criticisms from former crew members “do not reflect the vast majority of positive experiences of the more than 1,200 production team members who have worked across all series”.

“Contributors are not pressured in any way or expected to be intimate,” it added.