Olivia Rutherford, who appeared on Married at First Sight Australia season nine, says she does not believe the show can be made safely. She is among several former cast members speaking out about the program's alleged failures to protect participants.
Serious Allegations About Safety
After serious allegations about the safety of the UK franchise, Australian cast members say they experienced 'control, manipulation and isolation'. The UK's MAFS franchise faces allegations of rape and sexual assault, prompting experts and former cast members in Australia to call for a broader reckoning.
Less than two minutes into Australia's latest season of Married at First Sight, groom Tyson Gordon remarked: 'If she's a woke person, I don't really stand for any of that s---.' Later in season 13, he worried that his wife was not the 'submissive type', in comments described at the time by the social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, as mainstreaming 'coercive control'. Gordon later walked back his comments, telling 60 Minutes he had meant to say he was looking for a 'traditional' woman rather than a 'submissive' one.
Strangers Sleeping in a Bedroom
Since MAFS first aired in Australia in 2015, it has become the most watched reality television program in the country, this year reaching more than 16 million viewers – or more than half of the population. It has also been mired in controversy. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has conducted 10 investigations into MAFS and received 39 complaints, a spokesperson for the regulator confirms. The most recent investigations, in 2025, were over separate allegations that the program 'included themes of domestic violence and coercive control' and was incorrectly classified. No breaches of the Acma code of practice have been found.
But questions remain about how – and why – MAFS has allowed participants on the show with past allegations of domestic violence and abuse, most recently in its 2026 season, when a couple was pulled before going to air. Awhina Rutene was matched with Adrian Araouzou for the show's 12th season in 2025. A viewer raised concerns about historical domestic abuse charges against Araouzou, which had been dismissed in court before filming began. In a statement, he said he was found not guilty and 'any suggestion of physical assault is categorically denied'. However, MAFS was criticised for apparently being unaware of the charges until after the show had aired. Rutene says MAFS 'obviously needed a better vetting process'.
'It's wild, with hindsight,' she tells Guardian Australia. 'We are strangers sleeping in a bedroom on our own on the first night, you've got no security, you're by yourselves.' Rutene says she was not subject to abuse but describes the environment as a 'pressure cooker' and 'invasive', where physical intimacy is rewarded as evidence of a healthy relationship to the extent that it feels 'forced'. 'Every morning [in interviews] they'd be like, why aren't you having sex?'
Another season 12 bride, Sierah Swepstone, took to social media after the revelations against the UK franchise, which is run by a different production company, CPL. 'The environment engineered by MAFS is characterised by control, manipulation, isolation … gaslighting, psychological dependency, triggers and deprivation of autonomy,' she wrote on Instagram. 'In these environments, a person's ability to … enforce boundaries or leave is significantly impaired.'
A former participant of the program, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, says men with 'criminal or domestic violence backgrounds are cast regularly, season after season'. 'Every night you are left alone in a room with this man … There are no cameras rolling. You are isolated.' She says the allegations coming out of the UK 'did not shock me' and there is a 'close-knit group' of women in Australia who have relayed similar experiences. 'Women on my season were abused,' she says. 'There was physical violence, assault, non-consensual touching.' She says the feeling of powerlessness is heightened as cast members 'signed away our rights to a bad edit'. 'The damage doesn't come from what we say, it comes from what others say about us, in a context we cannot control and cannot correct.' She says: 'The solution already exists – it is called Love Island. Cameras rolling at all times. No private unsupervised access. If MAFS genuinely cared about participant safety, that structure would already be in place.'
Channel Nine's Response
Channel Nine says 'participant welfare is always the primary consideration' on Married at First Sight Australia. Olivia Rutherford, formerly Frazer, was cast on season nine of MAFS in 2022. She says she does not believe the show can be made safely. 'I just don't think any show where strangers are forced to live together, where there's time off camera, is safe, and I don't think that the way they edit and produce the show is safe,' she says.
During the 2025 run, broadcaster Channel Nine was also accused of not adequately responding when one of the grooms, Paul Antoine, punched a hole in a wall during an off-camera argument with his on-screen wife. He was put 'on notice' but not removed from the show. A New South Wales police investigation into that incident resulted in no charges, while SafeWork NSW issued three improvement notices to MAFS Australia's production company, Endemol Shine. SafeWork NSW has conducted five investigations into work health and safety issues at MAFS since 2025. 'SafeWork NSW is continuing to monitor compliance, and the commissioner will shortly be meeting with the show's executives,' a spokesperson says. A Nine spokesperson says it has 'welcomed' working with SafeWork NSW alongside Endemol Shine Australia, and 'have engaged fully and transparently with them'. 'Participant welfare is always the primary consideration in every work health and safety decision we make,' they say.
People Are Made to Look Like Villains
Patty Kinnersly, the CEO of Our Watch, says MAFS is 'repeatedly demonstrating coercive control, aggression, misogyny and emotionally abusive behaviour'. 'I think it's something we should be really concerned about,' she says, and the production company would be 'hard-pressed to demonstrate they're creating an environment that's safe for everybody involved'. While many participants say they have had a positive experience on the show, others allege they were pushed to keep filming despite feeling unsafe, or subject to 'villain edits' that exposed them to vicious bullying online.
Four years on from her season, Rutherford says she is still suffering from post-traumatic stress, bullying and death threats. She got on with her match but not with another participant, Domenica Calarco, culminating in Calarco smashing a wine glass during filming after Rutherford shared with castmates that Calarco had an OnlyFans account. 'There was no intervention,' Rutherford says. 'They just sat back and let the cameras roll.' Calarco apologised on air to Rutherford and other castmates after the incident. Rutherford was provided access to welfare and a psychologist, but she says they were employed by Endemol Shine with no confidentiality clause – meaning their sessions were relayed to production. Nine maintains psychological support is independent and confidential.
At one point, her mental health had deteriorated to the point she told production she wanted to 'jump off the balcony'. 'I was very serious, very distraught,' she says. She says their response was to withhold psychological care until the next evening, take away her devices and split her from her match for the weekend. After filming, she was provided three sessions with a psychologist to deal with growing backlash against her. Rutherford says her depiction on-screen was 'so far from reality'. Participants have no access to their social media during airing and sign strict non-disclosure agreements preventing them from speaking about how the show was produced for two years. 'I've had predecessors of mine come forward and tell me about violent situations they were in that production has covered up,' she says. 'People are made to look like villains and villains don't have rights to their own bodily autonomy. I'm still getting hate comments every day. I always encourage people to boycott it because if people don't watch, they can't make it any more, which means the cycle of abuse stops.'
Dysfunctional Ecosystem of Entertainment
A former post-production producer of the show, Alexandria Funnell, says she 'never witnessed' anything untoward on camera but MAFS operates within a 'dysfunctional ecosystem of entertainment'. 'When you put a bunch of people with high-conflict personality types in a high-conflict environment and a high-stress environment, what you're going to do is basically create carnage,' she says. 'There were instances where certain scenes were pulled because it actually depicted the person in such a bad light that the execs made the editorial call. As bad as the things are you see on air, it's worse behind the scenes sometimes.' She says the show has become more toxic in recent years and needs a reckoning. 'There's a reason it's historically been one of the most watched shows because … the heart of the show is actually good and to me is worth saving,' she says. 'It doesn't need to be cancelled, it just needs to be cleaned up.'
In Australia, domestic and family violence counselling is available from Full Stop Australia on 1800 385 578. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women's Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
