And just like that... MAFS is over

This. It was originally more serious and they legally got married. Still follow the couple from the last series of original MAFS on social media.

I was a bit confused when the woman said that the guy who raped her and said he'd get someone to throw acid over her if she told anyone 'threatened to leave'. I mean, surely that would be a good thing, no?

I enjoyed the first couple of series even though it did seem a bit of ridiculous concept. The fake wannabe celebrities soon started appearing who clearly had no interest in marriage. It was bound to end in disaster one way or another. Very sad.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who was horrified by how Paul treated Sarah because she wasn’t attracted to Dean. I was surprised there was no online commentary about it at the time (I went looking for it as I thought it was so awful!)

I still can't believe how big that whole Nasty Nick scandal was. Featured on News at Ten because a man snuggled a pencil into a TV house!

Different, more innocent times.

And IMO it's time C4 put a stop to Open House - that show where they all go and try out polyamory. The 'experts' always encourage them to go for it even though one party is usually very upset.

OK I can't really say 'always' because I only watched part of one episode, but it seems to be similarly exploitative and to stretch the meaning of 'consensual' where it includes the pressure of 'experts', of being on TV, of the removal to glam surroundings away from reality and your normal perspective.

Indeed it proved what people would do for money...then you had people like "Bubble" who like, really wacky this, wore different hats...

Oh charming! However it doesn't surprise me.
I've never watched that, or Love Island, not interested.

The best reality tv was surely Castaway back in 2000, and not only because it gave the world the gift of Ben Fogle.

As you say, a genuine social experiement where nobody really knew what they were letting themselves in for and no real gimmicks.

The first series of Big Brother was also good. Nasty Nick....... 😂

I think the point is they could be safeguarded, open and unexploited.

Women got raped because the production team weren’t producing a show about marriages anymore. It was increasingly about sexual relationships and social media and the participants were picked accordingly.

It was trash tv. Expect trash behaviours .

Another thought: although this obviously needed to be exposed, it's likely to start a witch hunt as to the identities of the unnamed men. I'm not remotely saying it shouldn't have been exposed, of course it should and there needs to be appropriate consequences for the perpetrators, but there's bound to be a lot of speculation and I do think there's going to be collateral damage in the shape of false allegations from the public towards other male participants who have done nothing wrong.

OMG yes, I was just thinking the same. I've only seen the trailers as I refuse to watch it on principle, but it looks like the epitome of exploitative and just every kind of wrong, however they try to dress it up that they're helping people(!) It really feels like E4 are scraping the barrel with that one.

Sex positive should mean willing consent but it now means pushing boundaries BC experimenting which means you are achieving personal growth

I don't see it as any travesty for a reality TV show which served as a vehicle to abuse and rape women to end.

That the women made the production company aware and they did nothing is absolutely deplorable and should be a criminal offence.

Yes. I've only watched 1 series fully but there is a weird pre-occupation with getting all the couples to start sleeping together almost immediately. It's so contradictory to sex positive messages about willing consent, respecting a partner's decision to not be intimate etc. And couples who waited or had issues regarding delayed intimacy were looked upon as immediate failures.

I think they should ban these shows. It’s unlikely that anyone who isn’t in some way vulnerable is going to participate in something where you marry and therefore have sex with someone you’ve only just met. There’s a clear and obvious risk here.

Who in their right mind would go on mafs and expect it to be all nice and romantic . Desperate idiots or wannabes

OMG, ‘Lizzie’ was threatened with acid and raped!

I will admit I have never seen MAFS but I have always been a bit surprised that it was always touted as a "groundbreaking" show.

I can vividly remember the radio station doing two strangers and a wedding back in the 90s complete with obligatory documentary (the bride actually split from the random she married and shacked up with Jeremy Kyle instead, so there's no accounting for taste!). So it wasn't new and had already been done.

That said, obviously I hope everyone who was been abused in the name of "entertainment" is being properly supported.

I always thought they deliberately paired misogynistic thuggy men with vulnerable women completely unsuited to having any kind of relationship just to get 'good tv'.

You say that you say this when posting a news article about abuse and rape and the end of reality tv.

then you say Charlie was the abuser when it was proved on camera how Eve was manipulating other contestants against Charlie. Even the contestant that hated Charlie the most due to Eve apologised when confronted with the truth. (Edited to add: was Polly)

im hoping you are on a wind up

I’m sure the op will consider me a boring prude but I’m afraid imho these programmes are degenerate shite. They objectify women in a disgusting way and then they act surprised when something like this happens. Just grim.