Married At First Sight UK has become the centre of rape allegations. Now former MAFS Australia contestants and producers are speaking out about being coerced into intimacy.
"I can see exactly how the situation can, I guess, set up something like that," she told 7.30. The allegations came to light on the BBC's Panorama program, with two women accusing their on-screen husbands of assault.
The men have denied the allegations but the British broadcaster for the program, Channel 4, has taken down every episode.
"Given the nature of the show, you do feel the pressure to ... progress quite quickly in the relationship, whether that is intimacy, whether that is connecting with that person," Ms Cook told 7.30. Ms Cook was 27 when she became one half of the youngest couple at the time, to tie the knot in the Australian show's history.
"I wasn't really having much luck with dating and ... I'd seen the previous season and I was like, oh, maybe I could do MAFS," she said.
"I'd seen the previous season and I was like, 'oh, maybe I could do MAFS'. Maybe that could be a fun way to meet someone.
"I didn't really think too much about it. Maybe it was a bit naive going into it, but was just like, what could happen?
"Three weeks after her on-screen wedding to then-26-year-old Ollie Skelton, the couple were told by the producers they would be participating in 'Intimacy Week'. "We had to do this awful tantric sex workshop, which thankfully never got aired ... but it was these weird breathing exercises," she said. "I had to lie on the floor, and my husband was putting the feather around me in front of the instructors, the production .
Then, there was a special delivery of intimacy props to their apartment.
"Everyone had costumes and it just was a bit ... that is not what I think is intimacy and what ... I would want in terms of growing in a relationship. So I remember I was like, 'I don't want to show this on camera. That's embarrassing'.
" Ms Cook says she almost reached "breaking point" when producers pressured her stay in another 'husband's' apartment as part of a partner swap. ABC News: Daniel Fermer"This was the first time they did this challenge and the last time I think they did the couple swap," she said.
"I actually thought my reaction on camera was like, 'Surely not. This is absolutely a piss take'.
" "I think all the couples were at breaking point there. We were like, 'Why have we got to go and do this?
'"Loni Fagel is an American trauma therapist who worked as a story producer on Married by America in the early 2000's, a show which involved the public voting for the couples they wanted to get engaged. She said on shows like Married by America and Married at First Sight, the audience wants to see couples being intimate and producers will aim to deliver.
"When you have cast members who are put into these scenarios where they're supposed to be enjoying themselves, nobody wants to watch people just sitting and not touching each other," Ms Fagel said. "They're probably highly encouraged to engage in things that they might not feel comfortable doing otherwise. "Loni Fagel is a trauma therapist in the United States.
"We need to investigate this, even if it's not something that we find that happened, or maybe it did, but we need to take everything seriously. " Ms Cook says she had a good experience on the show overall compared to other couples, however she believes the pressure the producers put on couples to be intimate can blur the lines of consent, and create a dangerous environment for women. "I think it sits with the format of the show.
I think that just needs to be reviewed a little bit more," she told 7.30.
"I feel like the situations participants are put in do open up dangerous things to happen and I think it's safeguarding that a bit better. "Unsplash: Olivia BausoFormer Married at First Sight Australia post-producer Alex Funnell also agrees the current format of the show raises red flags for issues around consent. "It's putting people in a position where they feel pressured to consent to something, that in and of itself is a consent issue, because consent can't be under pressure.
It has to be enthusiastic.
"It's fine if the couples are genuinely intimate, but if they're not, you're forcing these people who aren't actually intimate to create some form of intimacy, that's uncomfortable. "ABC News: Andrew Altree-WilliamsMs Funnell was a post-producer on seasons 9 and 10 of the show, and says there needs to be an "audit on the intimacy side of things, because are ultimately on a set".
"I think introducing some sort of intimacy coordinator or something like that would probably help alleviate the potential for issues," she said. And while there is a 'house producer' who lives on-site with the couples, a psychologist can only be reached by phone and isn't present in-person.
"I think there could always be more done, especially with producers, I don't think they're equipped to be trauma counsellors or equipped to handle certain situations," Ms Cook said.7.30 asked Nine and production company Endemol Shine Australia about 'Intimacy Week' and concerns raised about informed consent. Both declined requests for an interview, however a spokesperson told 7.30 in a statement: "Nine and Endemol Shine Australia take their obligations in respect of the health, wellbeing and safety of participants extremely seriously".
"No participants are expected to do anything they are not comfortable with, and they retain the right to make their own choices at every stage. "Intimacy Week is one of several themed weeks across the series, and like every task on the program, it is entirely voluntary. "Whether or not a couple's relationship already includes sexual intimacy, or if they agree that they wish to introduce it, this is for them not the production to decide.
"During Intimacy Week couples are supported at every step, on and off camera, and not only when support is asked for. "
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