Married at First Sight UK fans flooded Ofcom with complaints in their hundreds following a particularly controversial episode that broadcast on E4.
In its weekly complaints report, the broadcasting watchdog has disclosed that 256 viewers had submitted grievances over an episode that transmitted on Wednesday, November 5.
During the episode, the couples enjoyed their final dates together ahead of their vow renewals, whilst couple Ashley Dommett and Grace Law made a surprising return following the collapse of their marriage.
Breaking with show tradition, the duo each participated in a private commitment ceremony separately and apart from the other couples as they both attempted to present their version of events, unable to share the same room.
The bulk of the complaints Ofcom received centred on the handling of Ashley by experts Mel Schilling, Paul Brunson and Charlene Douglas, who after listening to Grace’s account offered Ashley guidance on how his conduct might have been misconstrued by his former partner, reports OK!
Amongst the concerns Grace highlighted was that spouse Ashley was overly familiar immediately, despite the pair being complete strangers when they married.
She recounted how he would open the bathroom door whilst she was inside, which Ashley had justified as being a light-hearted gesture.
Grace herself was also swift to criticise the episode, alleging her version of events had been “sanitised” by the show’s production team. “This isn’t good enough,” she vented in a statement shared on her Instagram page.
“You brought me out of my safe place, three weeks after leaving the experiment, so I could ‘tell my story’. Then you sanitised it. How could you?”
She went on to say: “You have to raise your daughters in the same society that protects men at all costs. May they never come close to what you put me through.”
This particular episode has sparked the most complaints of the entire tenth series to date, surpassing the previous record held by the 26th episode aired on October 29, which received 166 complaints.