EXCLUSIVE: Married At First Sight UK ‘fakery’ row as Channel 4 pretends that a man
Channel 4 has become embroiled in a fakery row after pretending that a man appearing on their reality show Married At First Sight UK was unaware he had been paired up with a transgender woman.
Next week viewers will see Ella Morgan, who was born male and transitioned into a woman when she was 20, wed the contestant before some hours later telling him that she is trans.
They will watch as the man is left in shock when he learns he has just wed the Ms Morgan.
And in a bid to keep the drama going, she doesn’t tell her new husband for some time after the wedding ceremony.
However, the broadcaster has now admitted that they did tell the groom before filming the dramatic scenes, meaning that the organisation has duped their viewers.
Channel 4 has become embroiled in a fakery row after pretending a man appearing on their show Married At First Sight UK was unaware he had been paired up with a transgender woman
Next week viewers will see Ella Morgan, who was assigned male at birth and transitioned into a woman when she was 20, wed the contestant before hours later telling him that she is trans
Channel 4 has now admitted that they did tell the man in advance of filming the series, meaning that the organisation has duped their viewers
It is understood that the man is ‘furious’ with how Channel 4 treated him during his time on the programme and afterwards.
Married At First Sight, which is aired on the broadcaster’s E4 streaming platform, sees contestants not know who they are marrying until they meet them at the altar.
And they keep this pretence up to fans in the pre-recorded episode which airs next Tuesday.
But a Channel 4 spokesperson confirmed to the MailOnline that ‘the groom was told that the match found for him was a trans woman.’
They now risk complaints from both television regulator Ofcom and the show’s fans.
In a statement issued, the network says: ‘This is the first time MAFS UK has featured a trans bride so, to ensure fully informed consent, and with the permission of the bride, the groom was told that the match found for him was a trans woman, after which both parties chose to continue in the process.
‘In all other ways, the integrity of the format was preserved. Our priority during matchmaking is to protect the wellbeing of the cast and create compatible matches, based on detailed assessment of individual preferences, as part of an in-depth, careful matchmaking process.’
Despite the programme being fake, Channel 4 bosses insist that ‘a high duty of care’ was put into their match.
Ella Morgan (pictured) is the first transgender contestant to appear on the UK show
In an interview with MailOnline, Ella has told of her relief at appearing on Married At First Sight UK because she says she no longer has to hide
Ella has said she is thankful to E4 for recruiting her in the lineup for the newest series of Married at First Sight UK
It isn’t the first time that the network, which is state owned, has been embroiled in fake television.
In 2007 its chat show Richard & Judy was exposed to be rigging its phone-in called The You Say, We Pay game, by taking £1 phone entries despite the successful participants already been chosen. The show was axed afterwards.
Vanessa Feltz’s Channel 5 show was axed in 1999 after it emerged that fake guests with fabricated sob stories were appearing on it.
Ms Morgan is the first transgender contestant to appear on the show.
Speaking of her decision to appear on the series, she told the Mail: ‘I’m really proud of it because going into this I was scared to say that I’m trans but now I can hold my head up high.
Ella, who is originally from Bristol, told MailOnline that she is proud to be trans and she is ‘just like any other girl’
The new series of Married at First Sight UK is set to start at 9pm on September 18
‘I have changed a lot of people’s minds and I have also found me. I am proud to say I’m trans and so what it’s just a label. I’m still just like any other girl.
‘I don’t want to be someone’s dirty secret, but I feel like people aren’t educated these days.
Last year Married At First Sight was rocked by ’emotional abuse’ claims about one of its contestants.
George Roberts married April Banbury at the start of the experiment and was accused of being an emotional abuser by three of his ex-girlfriends, though he denied all the claims.