Married At First Sight Australia star claims show ‘cast men with criminal records’

A Married At First Sight Australia star has claimed that some of her fellow contestants ‘became victims’ of domestic violence on her country’s version of the reality series.

Jacqui Burfoot, who appeared as a bride on series 12 of the show last year, has spoken out after two MAFS UK brides claimed they were raped during the filming of Channel 4’s show.

Posting a video on social media, the 31-year-old model, who is also a lawyer and yoga teacher, claimed that some brides were domestic abuse victims and certain men who were selected had criminal records.

‘I know for a fact that they cast outgoing, outrageous individuals who are going to cause drama,’ she said in a three-minute Facebook video.

‘There’s a tendency to cast men in particular with domestic violence backgrounds, even like histories of criminal records and things like that.

‘It is quite alarming when you’re married to a stranger, when you find out that a lot of these men are actually really dangerous or do have propensity to commit acts of domestic violence and things like that.

‘Now in my season in particular, this did happen and there were men cast with criminal records and histories of domestic violence. There were women that became victims too. These behaviours, a lot of it never went to air because it’s not suitable for primetime TV.’

She also added: ‘I also feel for the women over there because it’s really hard to call out behaviour which never went to air because people think they know you, but they don’t know what happened behind the scenes.

‘You’re up against people saying “stop complaining about your edit, it’s just bad behaviour”. So a lot of the times the victims of these crimes, it’s worse, because not only are you not getting a fair edit, but they give you a crazy edit or they make you look like the villain so that you’re silenced and it’s really, really, really horrible.

‘It’s worse than what it sounds like on the surface – you’re not just a victim of sexual assault, you’re then also the victim of a bad edit to discredit your name, so if you ever try and speak out, no one’s going to believe you, no one’s going to listen to you.’

This comes after Channel 4 announced that a review, which was commissioned in April, will look into contributor welfare on the series following ‘very serious allegations of wrongdoing’.

In the BBC Panorama investigation, two women said they were raped, while a third described an allegation of a non-consensual sex act.

All of the women said that the show did not do enough to protect them, according to BBC News.

One of the three women who came forward to the BBC said her onscreen husband raped her and threatened her with an acid attack.

She now wants to pursue legal action against CPL, which is an independent production company that makes the UK version of the show.

A second woman told both Channel 4 and CPL, before broadcast, about being allegedly raped by her onscreen husband. Her episodes were still aired, however.

A third woman accused her onscreen husband of sexual misconduct.

Channel 4 told BBC News that the allegations are ‘wholly uncorroborated and disputed’.

Burfoot, who has a double degree in law and finance with first-class honours in law, also pleaded for help to take a case to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

She also wrote in an accompanying caption: ‘This really isn’t easy to post. I hate that I have. I have a business, a brand, and a public profile that depends on staying in good standing – and staying silent. 

‘But when woman are getting grap*d [sic], participants committing suicide and I’ve first hand experienced and witnessed similar, it’s just way too much to ask for me to stay silent. 

‘I’ve spoken out since day one and I will continue to do so because morally, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.’

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