Married at First Sight Australia Participant and Producer Raise Consent Concerns

When former Married at First Sight Australia participant Tahnee Cook heard about allegations of rape on the UK version of the reality show, she was horrified but not surprised.

"I can see exactly how the situation can, I guess, set up something like that," she told 7.30.

The allegations came to light on the BBC's Panorama program, with two women accusing their on-screen husbands of assault.

The men have denied the allegations but the British broadcaster for the program, Channel 4, has taken down every episode.

"Given the nature of the show, you do feel the pressure to ... progress quite quickly in the relationship, whether that is intimacy, whether that is connecting with that person," Ms Cook told 7.30.

Ms Cook was 27 when she became one half of the youngest couple at the time, to tie the knot in the Australian show's history.

She said she had thought about what she was signing up for by going on the show.

"I wasn't really having much luck with dating and ... I'd seen the previous season and I was like, oh, maybe I could do MAFS."

"I'd seen the previous season and I was like, 'oh, maybe I could do MAFS'. Maybe that could be a fun way to meet someone.

"I didn't really think too much about it. Maybe it was a bit naive going into it, but was just like, what could happen?"

Three weeks after her on-screen wedding to then-26-year-old Ollie Skelton, the couple were told by the producers they would be participating in 'Intimacy Week'.

"We had to do this awful tantric sex workshop, which thankfully never got aired ... but it was these weird breathing exercises," she said.

"I had to lie on the floor, and my husband was putting the feather around me in front of the instructors, the production [crew].

Then, there was a special delivery of intimacy props to their apartment.

"We got given a gift from the experts and it was sex toys," she told 7.30.

"Everyone had costumes and it just was a bit ... that is not what I think is intimacy and what ... I would want in terms of growing in a relationship. So I remember I was like, 'I don't want to show this on camera. That's embarrassing'."

Ms Cook says she almost reached "breaking point" when producers pressured her stay in another 'husband's' apartment as part of a partner swap.

"This was the first time they did this challenge and the last time I think they did the couple swap," she said.

"We had to go stay with another husband for three nights, which was something I did not want to do.

"I actually thought my reaction on camera was like, 'Surely not. This is absolutely a piss take'."

Blurred lines on consent

Loni Fagel is an American trauma therapist who worked as a story producer on Married by America in the early 2000's, a show which involved the public voting for the couples they wanted to get engaged.

She said on shows like Married by America and Married at First Sight, the audience wants to see couples being intimate and producers will aim to deliver.

"When you have cast members who are put into these scenarios where they're supposed to be enjoying themselves, nobody wants to watch people just sitting and not touching each other," Ms Fagel said.

But she says 'Intimacy Week' on Married at First Sight Australia should be investigated.

"We need to investigate this, even if it's not something that we find that happened, or maybe it did, but we need to take everything seriously."

Ms Cook says she had a good experience on the show overall compared to other couples, however she believes the pressure the producers put on couples to be intimate can blur the lines of consent, and create a dangerous environment for women.

"I think it sits with the format of the show. I think that just needs to be reviewed a little bit more," she told 7.30.

Former Married at First Sight Australia post-producer Alex Funnell also agrees the current format of the show raises red flags for issues around consent.

"If it's consent under duress, then is it really consent?" Ms Funnell asked.

"It's putting people in a position where they feel pressured to consent to something, that in and of itself is a consent issue, because consent can't be under pressure. It has to be enthusiastic.

"I cringe at 'Intimacy Week'.

"It's fine if the couples are genuinely intimate, but if they're not, you're forcing these people who aren't actually intimate to create some form of intimacy, that's uncomfortable."

Ms Funnell was a post-producer on seasons 9 and 10 of the show, and says there needs to be an "audit on the intimacy side of things, because [couples] are ultimately on a set".

"I think introducing some sort of intimacy coordinator or something like that would probably help alleviate the potential for issues," she said.

And while there is a 'house producer' who lives on-site with the couples, a psychologist can only be reached by phone and isn't present in-person.

"I think there could always be more done, especially with producers, I don't think they're equipped to be trauma counsellors or equipped to handle certain situations," Ms Cook said.

Participation 'entirely voluntary'

7.30 asked Nine and production company Endemol Shine Australia about 'Intimacy Week' and concerns raised about informed consent.

Both declined requests for an interview, however a spokesperson told 7.30 in a statement: "Nine and Endemol Shine Australia take their obligations in respect of the health, wellbeing and safety of participants extremely seriously".

"No participants are expected to do anything they are not comfortable with, and they retain the right to make their own choices at every stage.

"Whether or not a couple's relationship already includes sexual intimacy, or if they agree that they wish to introduce it, this is for them not the production to decide.

"During Intimacy Week couples are supported at every step, on and off camera, and not only when support is asked for."