In a new Panorama documentary about Married At First Sight UK, contestant Shona Manderson accused her onscreen husband, Bradley Skelly, of a non-consensual sex act - something he denies.
The pair were matched on the show, which sees couples meet for the first time at the altar and enter into a 'marriage', in 2023. Quickly, their relationship was deemed "unhealthy" by experts, and they were asked to leave the experiment after two weeks. They stayed together for an additional six weeks, before they split.
Now, Shona has alleged that Bradley ejaculated inside her without her consent, during a Panorama episode which came out yesterday.
In The Dark Side of Married At First Sight, Shona says:
"In bed, we were being intimate. Consensual, completely consensual. And we were having sex, and a boundary was crossed completely. My partner came inside me without my consent. We had agreed that we were pulling out. I was shocked, I was confused. We said that we weren't doing that."
While Shona didn't initially tell anyone what happened, she was eventually taken to get the morning-after pill by one of the show's welfare producers. According to the documentary, lawyers for production company CPL said Shona had told the production company at the time that Bradley had not asked for permission to ejaculate inside of her, but that she said she did not have an issue with it. Lawyers also said Bradley told CPL he had been wearing a condom.
In the documentary, Bradley Skelly's lawyers said that he was not wearing a condom, but that he understood Shona had consented to him ejaculating inside her. A statement said:
"Bradley Skelly says he understood Shona had consented that night. He categorically denies any allegations of sexual misconduct or that he was controlling. He says their relationship was based on mutual consent, care and affection".
Since the episode of Panorama aired, Channel 4 has removed all previous episodes of Married at First Sight UK from their streaming site.
The channel also announced they had launched an external review into contributor welfare back in April this year, with a spokesperson saying: "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."
MAFS UK is produced for Channel 4 by independent production company CPL, and Channel 4 also added to their statement on Monday that they believed, "that 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.”
CPL said its welfare system was "gold standard" and industry-leading, and that it acted appropriately in all these cases.
Priya Dogra, chief executive of Channel 4 also said: “I want to express my sympathy to contributors who have clearly been distressed after taking part in Married At First Sight UK. The wellbeing of our contributors is always of paramount importance."
Read Channel 4's full statement here.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, support is available:
Rape Crisis England & Wales (0808 500 2222), The Survivors Trust (0808 801 0818), Victim Support, and NHS Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) all offer free confidential support.
