CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses alleged sexual assault.
Two former Married At First Sight UK brides recently alleged they were raped by their on-screen husbands in a BBC Panorama investigation, with a third woman claiming she experienced a non-consensual sex act.
In the days since that program aired, 2023 bride Shona Manderson has shared a detailed Instagram statement about her time on the show, including her decision to have an abortion after leaving the experiment and how she now makes sense of what happened.
“Over the last year I’ve been involved in the BBC Panorama investigation into welfare on Married At First Sight,” she began.
@bbcnews Shona Manderson was matched with Bradley Skelly on Married at First Sight UK in 2023. She says they were having consensual sex but once during their time on the programme, he went too far during sex. They had agreed to use the withdrawal method of contraception, Shona says on one occasion her onscreen husband ejaculated inside her without asking her permission. Shona says she was taken to get the morning after pill by a welfare producer, whose job was to look after cast members. Channel 4 and the production company that makes the series, CPL, said Shona told them she had no issue with what Bradley had done. Bradley Skelly said he understood she was consenting and denies any allegations of sexual misconduct. Shona says she deserved better duty of care from the show. CPL says it took appropriate measures to safeguard her wellbeing and that its welfare protocols are robust and comprehensive. #MAFS #MarriedAtFirstSight #News #BBCNews
♬ original sound – BBC News – BBC News
“This wasn’t a decision I took lightly. It honestly scared me and I went back and forth on whether to take part for a long time, but I was deeply impacted by my experience on MAFS.
“I chose to speak because I hoped that sharing my experience could contribute to a wider conversation around welfare and positive change. I also want to say this isn’t about individuals. There were people within production who showed me real kindness and support and there were aspects of my welfare experience that felt strong.”
She wrote that, during her time on the show, she “completely lost my light in a very short space of time and afterwards I had a lot of healing to do”.
She described moments where she felt “emotionally overwhelmed and struggled”, including one point where she became “extremely emotionally distressed because of the way my partner had spoken to me” and was “asked to calm down and return to filming by production”, something she said raises “important questions around how people are cared for in high-pressure moments”.
On the show, she had already voiced discomfort with how her on-screen husband, Bradley Skelly, behaved during sex and accused him of “taking things too far during sex”, concerns she has now expanded on publicly.
“One thing I want to address clearly is that during our time in the experiment we had always agreed to use the pull-out method. He said he didn’t want to wear a condom and I was okay with that. I had never agreed to him ejaculating inside me. On one occasion that happened without my consent. He later said he did it because he wanted to ‘show me how much he loved me’ and because he thought I believed he wasn’t attracted to me,” she wrote on Instagram.
“When I was sent home, I realised I was pregnant. This was an incredibly distressing and deeply personal part of my experience.”
She said she spent a long time trying to work out whether the pregnancy came from that specific incident, the couple’s previous use of the pull-out method or possible pre-ejaculate, but stressed that “regardless of that, for me, that was never the point. That shouldn’t have happened”.
She ultimately chose to have an abortion and has previously described that choice as “really hard”.
Manderson went on to say that “our differences around intimacy were much bigger than they appeared”, explaining that she had “never come across or experienced that level of intimacy before and had never even met someone with those kinds of preferences”.
She also raised concerns about welfare behind the scenes, claiming that while “production gave my partner serious warnings for ‘breaking the rules’”, from her point of view “there were never any serious interventions around his behaviour towards me from production”.
She recalled being told to “go be together on the outside” and asked whether they wanted a hotel together the night they were told they were leaving, something she now feels contributed to confusion about whether the environment or the relationship itself was at fault.
She wrote that she left the experiment “carrying a lot of self-blame”, recalling discussions that framed her partner as having “demons” and her as having low self-esteem, which she “internalised” in a way that made her feel there was “a sense of shared responsibility for why the relationship had not worked”.
On the practical side, Manderson said that when she was sent home she did not feel her “financial welfare was fully considered”, explaining that she was “only given two weeks pay”, which added “significant stress during an already difficult period”.
She said she was later offered further financial support after informing production she was pregnant, but wrote that the timing left her feeling “that stronger financial support and clearer safeguards on exit should have been in place regardless, particularly during periods of vulnerability”.
“I believe there is room for stronger processes: more in-person casting, deeper checks, clearer support and stronger interventions around concerning behaviour,” she continued, adding that she also sees “room for deeper matching processes” around “values, non-negotiables, intentions for being there, relationship expectations and compatibility around intimacy”.
At the same time, she acknowledged that “this is a very difficult environment to fully safeguard”, given how much of the experiment happens away from cameras and production.
“I wanted to speak honestly about my experience because looking back now I don’t believe I was able to advocate for myself. I also carried a lot of self-blame and it took me a long time to make sense of what happened,” Manderson wrote.
“I also want to acknowledge the other women who have shared their experiences. I know how difficult speaking up can feel and I’m proud of every woman who has found the courage to use her voice. I believe there is room for accountability and change. And I hope moving forward more women feel empowered to trust themselves, speak up and know that they matter.”
Bradley Skelly has maintained he believed Shona had consented, and told the BBC he categorically denies “any allegations of sexual misconduct” or being “controlling”, saying their relationship “was based on mutual consent, care and affection”.
Channel 4 has said it has commissioned an independent review into welfare practices on Married At First Sight UK after being made aware of “serious allegations” concerning former participants, and has pulled the show from its platforms while that process is underway.
The UK’s Metropolitan Police have also encouraged anyone who believes they were sexually assaulted after taking part in the series to come forward, and the BBC understands officers are approaching Channel 4 and the production teams for more information and to ensure participants know how to report any criminal allegations.
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