Married at First Sight Australia is at the centre of a BBC investigation after claims emerged that contestants were not informed about their partners’ criminal histories before being matched on the show.
Nine former cast members have alleged several male participants were allowed on the show despite having drug and violence convictions.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: MAFS Australia faces scrutiny over criminal background checks
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
According to the investigation, one former participant discovered their match had a previous drug conviction, while another found out their partner had been convicted of affray, a public order offence involving violence or threats.
In a joint statement for Nine and Endemol Shine Australia, a spokesperson said they “take their obligations in respect of the health, wellbeing and safety of participants extremely seriously”.
“We have strong protocols in place to ensure participant safety and wellbeing. There is a structured, multi-stage checking process that every participant must complete and clear.
“This includes police and criminal-history checks in each declared country of residence, independent clinical psychological assessment, medical screening, disclosure supported by a statutory declaration, and legal and digital due diligence.
“The support for participants is continually evolving and each season we re-assess this framework.”
Sunrise Showbiz editor Peter Ford noted the statement’s language suggested the network may be acknowledging room for improvement, particularly the phrase “continually evolving” at the end of their response.
“They go to great lengths to say they do background checks on people, criminal records, etc. They go for psychological testing,” Ford said.
“But interestingly, they’re not denying there that they’re not saying, ‘ Oh, we told these people about the backgrounds of the blokes.”
Ford said the production team would need to be extremely careful with casting for the next series, which is likely already in pre-production.
“They will have to be very, very certain of who they’re signing up to be a part of it because they really are now under very close scrutiny,” he said.
The allegations come just weeks after a Channel 4 documentary made more serious claims about the UK version of the show, including allegations of sexual assault.
Ford noted the allegations being made in this matter are a lot “less serious” than the allegations made in that documentary.
