MAFS UK bride calls out Channel 4 for 'stitching her up with an unsuitable husband' and leaving her in the dark about the show being axed after rape allegations

Channel 4 has announced it has axed the controversial dating show Married At First Sight (MAFS) after a number of women claimed to have been sexually assaulted and raped while filming.And one ‘bride’, whose filmed series has now been shelved by producers, has claimed she was left in the dark about the decision and only told via email yesterday morning.She has also claimed that she was ‘stitched up’ by producers who gave her an unsuitable husband and, at times, felt like she was put in dangerous situations.Rebecca Burgess, 36, a wellness and fitness instructor from Liverpool, spent ten weeks filming before allegations of rape and sexual misconduct were made in an episode of BBC’s Panorama back in May.All episodes of MAFS UK were pulled from its streaming service in the wake of the allegations and the filmed series was postponed until an investigation was carried out.And now, following Channel 4’s decision to axe the show, Ms Burgess’ series will never be broadcast. MAFS ‘bride’ Rebecca Burgess, whose filmed series has now been shelved by producers, has claimed she was left in the dark about the decision to axe the show She has also claimed that she was ‘stitched up’ by producers who gave her an unsuitable husband and, at times, felt like she was put in dangerous situations‘They didn’t even have the decency to tell us what was happening,’ she told the Daily Mail.‘Why didn’t they let us know before the announcement? It’s disgusting. Where’s the respect? We’ve all put our lives on hold and this is the way they treat us.’She claimed that she was pushed to her limits mentally and emotionally, during filming.‘I feel really bad saying this but I can understand why it’s been axed,’ she said.‘It was a mental challenge that I never expected to experience in a million years. I came home a shell of myself.’The single mum, who has a seven-year-old daughter, went on the show to find love but claims she quickly realised they had matched her with someone completely unsuitable – for the drama.’You do actually think that they are going to find your one,’ she said.‘Obviously you know it’s a television show, but I did want to find love. Wellness and fitness instructor Rebecca spent 10 weeks filming before allegations of rape and sexual misconduct were made in an episode of BBC’s Panorama back in May‘And then the minute you get there and start filming you realise it’s all just for TV.‘I remember being on the honeymoon, I looked at production and realised then that they’d stitched me up.‘It wasn’t about finding me a love match it was about the drama that I could create.‘We were in Thailand, it was Day 2, and I was like "get me out of here", I could see straight away what the narrative was like.‘They’d put the strong confident woman with the one who wants to humble her and that’s exactly what they did.‘I was played a lot. I was used a lot, locked away from people and used as a narrative. They did quite a few things to me that they really shouldn’t have.’She claims that, on one occasion, she was held by production for three hours in a gym and was then confronted by two drunk male participants, an incident she was not warned about.Ms Burgess, who helps other women through her Instagram @rebeccaburgess_, spent a week begging production to see her young daughter on Mother’s Day, she claims.‘I had to argue for about a week to get home for Mother’s Day,’ she said.‘They let me, four hours, but I had to be air-tagged. My daughter was six at the time. My mum had her while I was away filming.‘She had to get two buses to get her to school because she doesn’t drive.‘My whole life was up in the air and I feel like that the whole thing has been a complete waste of my time.’In a statement released yesterday, Channel 4 said the programme had run its course following the conclusion of the external investigation, and it would be scrapping the series that Ms Burgess had filmed.Priya Dogra, Channel 4’s chief executive, said in a statement: ‘MAFS UK has been enjoyed by millions of viewers, made possible by the willingness of its contributors to embrace the social experiment at the heart of the show and the many talented people involved in its production.‘Whilst the review praised the welfare protocols in place and made no findings that Channel 4 breached the Ofcom code or that the format is inherently unsafe, I have to consider when is the right time for Channel 4 to move on from a format.‘The recommendations are eminently sensible and feasible, but considering their wholesale implementation provoked fundamental questions about the editorial proposition of a show that, I believe, has now run its course over 10 years.’The Daily Mail has approached Channel 4 for comment.