Former cast members of Australia’s Married at First Sight (MAFS) have raised serious concerns about participant safety, following allegations of rape and sexual assault in the UK version of the show. The Australian franchise, produced by a different company, has faced criticism for allegedly mainstreaming misogynistic stereotypes and exposing participants to potentially harmful situations.
Since its debut in 2015, MAFS has become Australia’s most-watched reality TV program, reaching over 16 million viewers this year. However, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has conducted 10 investigations into the show, receiving 39 complaints. The most recent probes in 2025 examined allegations of domestic violence and coercive control themes, though no code breaches were found.
Former participant Awhina Rutene, matched with Adrian Araouzou in season 12, criticised the show’s vetting process after it emerged Araouzou had faced historical domestic abuse charges, which were dismissed. “It’s wild, with hindsight,” Rutene said. “We are strangers sleeping in a bedroom on our own on the first night, you’ve got no security.” She described the environment as a “pressure cooker” where physical intimacy was “forced”.
Another season 12 bride, Sierah Swepstone, posted on Instagram that the show’s environment is “characterised by control, manipulation, isolation … gaslighting, psychological dependency, triggers and deprivation of autonomy”. A former participant, speaking anonymously, claimed men with criminal or domestic violence backgrounds are “cast regularly, season after season”, and that women on her season experienced “physical violence, assault, non-consensual touching”.
Olivia Rutherford, from season nine, said she does not believe MAFS can be made safely. The anonymous former participant suggested a solution: “Cameras rolling at all times. No private unsupervised access. If MAFS genuinely cared about participant safety, that structure would already be in place.”
