May 20 (UPI) — Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra apologized Wednesday after women on Married at First Sight UK alleged they were sexually assaulted by their on-screen husbands.
Speaking at the network’s annual report briefing, Dogra acknowledged the women and called the allegations “very troubling.”
“Their distress is clear and for that I am of course deeply sorry,” she said, according to Deadline.
Dogra denied reports, however, that the show has been canceled and said the decision will be made after an external review into participants’ welfare.
“No decision has been made on the broadcast of [the upcoming season], and any decision we do take will be made only after the review has concluded,” she said, according to Variety.
In a report Monday, two women told the BBC they were raped during the filming of Married at First Sight UK, while a third alleged a non-consensual sex act. The allegations were the focus of the BBC’s Panorama episode that evening.
Channel 4 responded in a press release, saying it has commissioned an external review into contributor welfare on Married at First Sight. Dogra said at the time that the allegations “are not something that Channel 4 is in a position to adjudicate on.”
The three men have denied the allegations.
Married at First Sight UK is a spinoff of the American reality series featuring couples who agree to marry when they first meet. The U.S. version has aired 19 seasons and presently streams on Peacock.
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