Married At First Sight star George Roberts has been accused of emotional abuse by three women. Roberts appeared on the most recent iteration of the UK reality series, where he married April Banbury moments after meeting her at the altar.
Now, three women who claim to be Roberts’ ex-girlfriends have alleged that they had to make police complaints about him, as they said he was "manipulative" and "abusive".
The women, who claim to have dated Roberts after he split from his first wife, said they contacted E4 with information about his alleged past behaviour. All three women claim that their complaints were ignored.
One of the women told The Sun: "I’m so shocked to see he has been given a platform on a TV show. I messaged Married at First Sight. I said I reported him to the police.
They asked for additional information, which I gave, and I never heard anything further."
The second stated: "I contacted Married at First Sight, E4 and All4 and the producers to tell them he was a known emotional and mental abuser of women." The third claimed she was told by the show that they "would be looking into it".
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Financial advisor Roberts has denied the claims in a statement. His spokesperson said: "George categorically denies these allegations.
"As a father of daughters, he finds these accusations deeply upsetting and does not condone abuse nor behaves in that way.
"These allegations were never brought to his attention, investigated or taken further by the police for good reason as they are simply not true."
A spokesperson from Channel 4, which runs E4, said: "We work incredibly closely with our production partners to ensure all Married at First Sight UK contributors are subject to rigorous background and psychological checks, including the most detailed police checks a production is able to undertake.
"Any allegations of this nature are taken extremely seriously by Channel 4."
It comes after Banbury, Roberts’ wife from the reality show, said MAFS brought her "trauma" and hinted that their relationship was over.
She penned: "The traumas that have been brought on from this show have made me re-evaluate things. I really have – and I’m not ashamed to admit – I have been seeing a therapist ever since."
Married at First Sight UK airs on E4 in the UK. Married at First Sight Australia airs on Nine Network in Australia and E4 in the UK.
Jess is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for over-analysing everyone’s favourite movies and TV shows. As an English graduate from the University of York with an MA in Creative Writing, Jess worked as a magazine editor before turning freelance. Since then, Jess has written for outlets such as GQ, The Guardian, Inverse, Huff Post, Stylist, and Insider. She specialises in the representation of mental health, grief, and women in film. She’s also a major Marvel nerd and is writing a YA fantasy novel. LinkedIn
