Future of popular Channel 4 show Virgin Island in doubt after rape allegations against MAFS participants

THE future of TV’s Virgin Island has been cast into doubt amid the Married at First Sight rape scandal, The Sun can reveal today. Both Channel 4 productions put together strangers who live in close quarters and can end up having sex. The 2026 cast of Virgin Island, which may not be returning to screens Credit: Channel 4 Comic Lucy Beaumont narrates the show Credit: Ashley Coombes/REX/Shutterstock for Edinburgh TV Festival Filming on the third series of Virgin Island, which sees experts help 12 adults explore intimacy, was due to start this summer. Yet an insider said staff were told work on the show, narrated by comic Lucy Beaumont and set on a private island in the Med, would not be going ahead. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! He said: “Word spread it was being halted indefinitely. “No reason was given and it’s had good ratings. READ MORE ON VIRGIN ISLAND “So everyone thinks it’s because C4’s still reeling about MAFS. “After all, both are highly sexual shows involving the public.” A former Virgin Island contestant, Ellen, from Haywards Heath, West Sussex, said last week the virgins, who each have a tent, often broke the show’s no night visiting rule. In May on BBC’s Panorama, two women on MAFS accused their on-screen husbands of rape and a third alleged sexual misconduct. Most read in TV The claims are denied and an external review into welfare on the show is ongoing. Channel 4 said it was delaying “outstanding commissioning decisions on big returning series” until a new director of programmes is appointed. Comment now