Channel 4 cancels Married at First Sight UK after welfare reviews
Channel 4 has cancelled Married at First Sight UK, its long-running reality dating show, after two external reviews into how it looked after the people who appeared on it. Deadline reported the decision on 5 November 2026.
Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra said the show has "run its course." The filmed sixth season will not air. Neither will Second Marriage at First Sight, the spin-off. The five earlier seasons will stay off Channel 4's on-demand player, where they were removed in May.
The reviews were launched after BBC News published allegations from women who had met partners on the show. Two women said they had been raped by partners they met through it. A third said she had been the victim of a non-consensual sex act. The three men accused of wrongdoing deny the accusations. One cast member was also arrested on suspicion of rape over the summer.
The two reviews did not reach the same conclusions on every point. The first, by the law firm Clyde & Co, found that Channel 4 and the producer, CPL Productions, had not breached Ofcom's broadcasting code. It did find that rules on prohibited substances were not always fully applied. One contributor who broke them was given a first and final warning rather than being removed. The second review, by former BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey, looked at changes to protocols designed to strengthen contributor welfare. One external review concluded it would be reasonable to keep making future series. Ofcom, the UK broadcasting regulator, opened its own investigation in July.
Channel 4 first moved on the show in the spring. In April it commissioned an external review into contributor welfare, and in May it removed all previous seasons from its streaming and linear services. Channel 4 announced the ongoing review in mid-May. That followed a BBC Panorama programme that included claims from former cast members. Dogra told the BBC the programme was "very troubling" to watch.
For viewers, the practical result is simple. Nothing new from the franchise will be broadcast, and the shot-but-unseen sixth season will never reach a screen. For the crews and producers who worked on it, the decision closes a chapter that began years ago. Channel 4 has not said what it will put in the slot the show occupied.
