MAFS UK 2024 Contestant Jailed After Filming Reality Series

16 September 2024, 10:59 | Updated: 16 September 2024, 11:00

Married At First Sight UK contestant Alex Henry has reportedly been jailed after ‘abandoning his RAF post’ to star in the hit dating reality show.

Married at First Sight UK is only just getting going and cast drama behind the scenes has already blown up.

The hit reality dating show sees a number of contestants paired up and ‘married’ to one another after being matched by relationship experts, Paul C Brunson and Mel Schilling and Charlene Douglas.

The show receives thousands and thousands of applicants each season, with hopeful singles desperate to find love, and one groom took it further than perhaps he should have…

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28-year-old contestant Alex Henry was cast in the 2024 series of MAFS UK and it seems in his eagerness to be married off, Alex abandoned his post at an electronic warfare base.

It’s now been reported that after filming wrapped for the reality series, Alex returned to his position only to be jailed for 24 days in military prison and ultimately fired for abandoning his post.

The tabloids reported that the MAFS contestant did ask for permission in 2023 for work leave to film over the winter, however, his request was denied. That’s when Alex took it upon himself to leave anyway.

According to the publication, his spokesperson said: “He returned after filming of his own volition and handed himself into the military authorities.”

“He was sentenced to 34 days in a military prison and served 24 as a model inmate.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the air specialist has been in the headlines recently.

After E4 shared a promo video on social media introducing Alex as a contestant, several social media users commented on the post with allegations of abuse.

Meet MAFS UK 2024 groom Alex

Women's Aid then made demands for the contestant to be removed from the show, which were ultimately denied.

Following that, the organisation posted their disappointment online, writing, “Women’s Aid is disappointed by the decision not to remove an alleged abuser from the latest series of Married at First Sight.”

“Producers must consider their responsibility to protect the women who take part - and to show survivors that the entertainment industry takes their experiences seriously.”

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A post shared by Women's Aid (@womens_aid)

In a statement released to the press, Channel 4 responded saying, “The welfare of our contributors is of paramount importance and, as such, we take all allegations of unacceptable behaviour seriously. We are aware of a single allegation against a Married at First Sight UK 2024 contributor and we have responded directly to those who came to us with that allegation.”

“As part of our responsibility to safeguard our contributors, everyone taking part in MAFSUK undergoes a rigorous vetting process, involving a criminal record check and multiple psychological evaluations, before they can be cleared to take part.”

“The DBS (criminal record) check carried out on the contributor raised in the allegation was returned clean. We cast contributors based on the information we are legally able to access and we continue to review this process to ensure checks are as thorough as legally possible.”

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