Married At First Sight under investigation after official complaints to ACMA

It was a ratings smash for Channel 9, but reality TV show Married At First Sight has been hit with an investigation after a season that left little to viewers’ imagination.

Married At First Sight contestant Jessika Power. Pictures supplied by Channel 9.

The cheating, fighting, wine-throwing, obscenity-riddled reality TV hit Married At First Sight is being investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The show drew huge viewing numbers for Channel 9 by showcasing the less appealing aspects of many of its participants.

But ACMA is now looking into complaints from three viewers about the classification of the raunchy program.

It is unknown which episodes are the subject of the complaints.

The cast of Married At First Sight (MAFS). Picture: Channel 9

Programs shown after 7.30pm can attract an M rating. MAFS aired at 7pm on Sundays and 7.30pm on weekdays.

Under the commercial TV code of practice viewers who believe a show’s content is inappropriate or has breached a section of the code must first raise their complaint with the broadcaster.

The station then has 60 days to respond.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the response they can then refer it to ACMA for investigation.

The ACMA media unit confirmed in a statement on Friday that an investigation was in its early stages.

“Three complainants have come to the ACMA about Married At First Sight after complaining to the licensee first. The ACMA is investigating compliance with section 2 (classification) of the commercial TV code of practice,” the statement said.

The 2019 series of Married At First Sight left little to the imagination of viewers.

A physical altercation between Cyrell and Martha on Married At First Sight.

There was plenty of cheating with Ines Basic and Sam Ball dumping their respective TV partners for a raunchy bedroom rendezvous, only for Ball to bolt from Basic as soon as she talked about their future.

Jessika Power was a walking headline as she tired of her TV partner Mick Gould and lusted after Nic Jovanovic before hooking up with Dan Webb. Webb unfortunately forgot to dump his TV partner Tamara Joy before starting a relationship with Power.

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Power and Webb then broke up on live TV after the final episode of MAFS aired.

Cyrell Paule smashed a large ceramic fruit bowl during a stoush with Martha Kalifatidis. Kalifatidis returned serve later in the series by tipping a glass of red wine over Paule’s head at a dinner party.

Meanwhile Matthew Bennett had his first sexual experience on the show before things ended badly with his TV bride Lauren Huntriss.

Channel 9 declined to comment.

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