Married at First Sight UK scandal deepens as Met Police urge any potential victims to come forward
Met Police said they are "aware" of the reports and are contacting production teams to ensure anyone spoken to knows how to report criminal allegations
The Metropolitan Police has urged potential victims of sexual assault on reality TV show Married At First Sight UK to get in touch.
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It comes after two women alleged they’d been raped and another made claims of sexual misconduct.
Channel 4 has removed all previous seasons of the show from its streaming platforms after “very serious allegations” were made following an 18-month BBC Panorama investigation.
A Met spokesperson said: “We are aware of media reporting relating to allegations of rape and sexual assault following the airing of a television programme on Monday, 18 May.
“At this time, we have not received any criminal reports in relation to this matter. We will be making approaches to the relevant production teams to ensure that anyone they have spoken to is aware of how to report any criminal allegations to police.
“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, to get in touch with us.”
Read more: Married at First Sight rape allegations 'serious' government insists, after two women come forward
The show, which is produced for Channel 4 by independent production company CPL, sees single people matched by experts and then “marry”, with couples meeting for the first time on their wedding day.
Two women told the documentary they had been raped by their on-screen husbands, while Shona Manderson accused hers of sexual misconduct during the filming of the popular show.
In a statement to the programme, Ms Manderson’s on-screen partner Bradley Skelly said he categorically denies “any allegations of sexual misconduct, or that he was controlling”.
Former victims minister, Alex Davies-Jones MP, has told LBC’s Andrew Marr that she is “deeply concerned” with the culture of reality TV following the investigation into Married At First Sight UK.
The Labour MP called the allegations “truly shocking” and has urged the DCMS select committee to "potentially open an inquiry” into the matter.
Ms Davies-Jones told Marr she finds it "sad and depressing that years on from MeToo, we're still sat here discussing this wider culture of misogyny and sexism," adding that the investigation “speaks to something about the culture of using people as commodities for entertainment purposes without any thought about their welfare, and it's deeply concerning."
Responding to the allegations on Tuesday, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said there must be “consequences for criminality or wrongdoing".
Channel 4 said in a statement released on Monday: “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 eleventh series of the programme, which commenced filming last month, is set to air in September.
However, it is unclear whether the new series will now air as scheduled, with some reports suggesting the season could be canned altogether.
LBC has approached Channel 4 for confirmation.