MAFS Horror: Behind the Scenes Revealed

A ‘bride’ who appeared on quit the controversial show in disgust at the way she and her co-stars were being treated.

The woman – who wishes to remain anonymous but appeared on the series within the past five years – says she was devastated by what she witnessed during filming, claiming that fellow contestants suffered psychologically from taking part.

It follows claims on ’s Panorama that two women had been raped by their on-screen ‘husbands’ during filming of MAFS. A third woman said she was the victim of a non-consensual sex act.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard last night urged potential victims of sexual assault on the reality show to come forward.

In the Panorama documentary, Shona Manderson accused her on-screen partner on MAFS of sexual misconduct – a claim he has denied.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman called for ‘appropriate action’ to be taken as Channel 4 bosses met with media minister Ian Murray, for crisis talks.

All ten seasons of the series, which sees hopeful romantics paired by a panel of experts, have now been removed from Channel 4’s streaming service.

But despite calls for the show to be axed, the Daily Mail understands bosses are pushing for its highly anticipated spin-off series, Second Marriage At First Sight, to continue in pre-production while an external review is carried out.

Now, in an exclusive interview with the Mail, another former bride claims there were lax background checks and failures of ‘duty of care’ towards those taking part.

She said: ‘I chose to leave early because I wasn’t comfortable contributing to someone else’s mental health problems when they clearly had issues already. What’s right for your wellbeing at the end of the day, that was more important than anything.’

CPL, an independent production firm which makes MAFS UK, has described its welfare measures as robust and ‘gold standard’, and says it had acted appropriately in all the cases discussed in the Panorama investigation.

Yet the latest whistleblower – the fourth to speak out – continues to have serious concerns.

She says she signed up to MAFS hoping to find true love. ‘I genuinely didn’t go on the show for Instagram followers. I genuinely didn’t go on for fame. I went in there to meet somebody.

But, criticising what she claimed was the ‘lax’ vetting of contestants, the woman revealed that her ‘groom’ (the fellow contestant she was due to ‘marry’) had declared he had no interest in finding love. ‘He was there for the “experience”, so what was the point of me staying?’ she said.

The marriages on the show are a ‘social experiment’ and are not legally binding, but cameras follow the couples as they go on ‘honeymoon’ and move in together.

She was also baffled to hear other contestants declaring their ‘love’ for each other, with the encouragement of the TV bosses. ‘People were going on as if they had been dating for months and months and months. It was just weird.’

‘I’m thinking: “Man, am I on another planet? What is going on?” It was just a surreal situation to be in.’

She accused show bosses of being heavy-handed with her, demanding private medical information she hadn’t wanted to disclose, for example. When it came to filming, she said the experience left her feeling ‘triggered’, claiming that friends and family were unable to recognise the ‘drained’ person she had become on screen.

‘There should have been more structured and proactive psychological support. They said there’s a psychologist there if you need one.’

But when she left she show, she says, the promised support was ‘kind of not there’.

‘People are being asked emotional things. A psychologist should be mandatory throughout the filming, not just, “well, it’s there if you want it”.’ When filming ended each day, she went back to her room, alone, to gather her thoughts as she didn’t feel like she wanted to ‘bother’ anyone.

The Daily Mail can reveal CPL and Channel 4 have reached out to former contestants who have appeared on its series in light of the allegations, offering them further support from psychologists.

In the letter, they also tipped those people off about the contributors of the allegations from their co-stars before they were made public, warning them they may find them ‘upsetting’. In a statement on Monday, a Channel 4 spokesman said it had the ‘most comprehensive and robust welfare protocols’.

They said: ‘In April, Channel 4 was presented with serious allegations of wrongdoing against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied. The channel is mindful of the privacy and continuing duty of care towards all contributors, and cannot comment on or disclose details of those allegations.’

In response to allegations of failures in welfare protocols, they said: ‘When concerns related to contributor welfare were raised through existing welfare and production protocols, prompt and appropriate action was taken, based on the information available at the time. Channel 4 strongly refutes any claim to the contrary.’

Despite calls for the show to be axed and the fact that it will likely face a police probe, The Daily Mail revealed on Tuesday how bosses are continuing with the pre-production of its spin-off series.

Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said yesterday: ‘I think it’s highly likely that there will be a referral to the police and it will be a police matter for them to investigate. These are shocking and deeply concerning allegations, and of course, they must be thoroughly investigated.’

Mr Jarvis continued that Channel 4 and CPL have a ‘hugely important responsibility’ to ‘look very carefully’ at the allegations and make sure they are fully investigated.

The BBC’s Panorama initially revealed the allegations from three women on Monday.