This season’s MAFS UK men are so toxic they make the Love Island lads look like angels

Yet another series of men telling women how to look and behave

2 years ago

It seems the casting department for reality TV shows never learns. Because as good as this year’s season of Married at First Sight UK is – and trust me, it is very good – there is one guarantee that never fails to be confirmed: The men of MAFS UK are generally utterly toxic.

This season, three men in particular have set a new low bar for the series, and their behaviour has made the antics of the likes of Luca Bish and Jacques O’Neill over the summer of Love Island look like a breezy and tolerable walk in the park. There are three men in particular who’ve made this season of Married At First Sight UK to the most toxic batch of MAFS we’ve seen yet – and I’m going to outline exactly why these fella’s wives are worth so much more.

Matt

Let’s get right into it: Matt’s behaviour towards Gemma was completely unacceptable and goes against the entire principle and ethos of what this show stands for. I want to start with saying that for the first week he was on the show as a late arrival, I actually felt for him. Gemma was her own worst enemy, and her sense of humour and overtly sexual comments were clearly giving Matt the ick and leaving her feeling completely unwanted.

There were red flags from early on. When he’d argue with Gemma, his tone was horrible. After he cheated on her with Whitney, the tone wasn’t exclusively used to demean Gemma, but to shout in the face of Zoe too – who was making a reasonable point at the dinner party about the situation. Matt’s demeanour is consistently intimidating and he brings a toxic atmosphere to the group with his behaviour. There’s a reason half the cast didn’t want him and Whitney to continue in the process.

Jonathan

Oh, Jonathan. How you had us fooled. On the day of their wedding, I completely misjudged that the materialistic city girl Sophie was the bad element in this marriage and that the humble Jonathan, with his simple life in the north wanting nothing more than a few pints down the local and a bit of travelling, was a good egg.

It all went Pete Tong at what should have been a lovely dinner party with his wife and with Adrian and Thomas. Until we realised the kind of comments Jonathan thinks nothing of spouting – when Sophie shared that he told her to not do certain exercises that she wanted to at the gym in fear of her getting, and I quote, “horse legs”.

Jonathan had no regard for what his wife might want to do with her body and her own exercise routine. He doubled down on the comments, as well as adding that he would tell his wife to lose weight if she gained it for any other reasons than medical. Sorry, what? What universe are we living in that men still think it’s acceptable to comment on women’s bodies in 2022? Beggar’s belief. He’s been MAFS UK enemy number one ever since for half the cast, and that’s more than reasonable in my humble opinion.

George

From the beginning, George’s behaviour on the show was worrying, with his demands that wife April tells him the ins and outs of her post whenever he demands it or suffer the wrath of his petulant chip lip.

But the latest allegations go beyond mere toxic behaviour. It has been reported that George has been arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour.

A spokesperson from the Met Police said: “A 40-year-old man was arrested by Met officers in Worcestershire on 29th September on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour. He was taken to Worcestershire police station and subsequently bailed to return pending further enquiries. This follows an allegation of controlling and coercive behaviour and harassment reported to the Met on 26th September.”

This follows criticisms of his behaviour made by ex-girlfriends to The Sun newspaper before starring on the show, which George denied.

A spokesperson from E4 previously told The Sun: “We work incredibly closely with our production partners to ensure all Married at First Sight UK contributors are subject to rigorous background and psychological checks, including the most detailed police checks a production is able to undertake. Any allegations of this nature are taken extremely seriously by Channel 4.”

I really hope that April is doing okay in light of all this. It remains to be seen what behaviour we’ll see from George going forward on the show – the series doesn’t finish for another 14 days. There are some concerns still to be had around E4 continuing to air episodes featuring George.

E4 have been approached for comment on the circumstances surrounding George’s arrest.

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