Married At First Sight embroiled in huge fix scandal over transgender contestant

14 September 2023 , 07:48

1122     0

Ella Morgan Clark has made history on Married at First Sight UK (Image: Instagram)

Married At First Sight UK has been embroiled in a huge fix scandal over a transgender contestant.

It was recently revealed that Ella Morgan Clark would be the show’s first-ever transgender contestant, and the 29-year-old said she was “honoured and proud” to make history on the Channel 4 show. The premise of the series, which airs on E4, revolves around contestants not knowing who they’re marrying until they meet them at the altar. But in shocking scenes set to air next week, Ella will walk down the aisle and marry the contestant - but fails to tell him she’s transgender.

The social influencer, who was born male and transitioned when she was 20, seemingly keeps the news from her new husband until hours after the ceremony, and he’s left stunned when Ella admits she is trans. However, it’s emerged that Married at First Sight producers told the groom before the wedding, meaning the dramatic scenes in which Ella works up the courage to tell him her secret are fake. After news broke of the upcoming wedding, viewers were outraged that bosses kept Ella’s transition secret from the groom, with one fan calling their behaviour “disgusting”.

Ella said she was 'honoured and proud' to be making history on the show (Instagram)

She transitioned when she was 20 (Instagram)

But Channel 4 has now confirmed they told the groom about Ella before filming the dramatic ‘confession’ scenes, meaning that they purposefully duped viewers. According to MailOnline, the groom is “furious” with how he’s been treated during his time on the hugely successful reality show. A spokesperson for the broadcaster confirmed the “groom was told that the match found for him was a trans woman”, and both Ella and the groom agreed to proceed with the wedding. “This is the first time MAFS UK has featured a trans bride so, to ensure fully informed consent, and with the permission of the bride, the groom was told that the match found for him was a trans woman, after which both parties chose to continue in the process,” the statement read. Mirror Online has approached Channel 4 for comment.

“In all other ways, the integrity of the format was preserved. Our priority during matchmaking is to protect the wellbeing of the cast and create compatible matches, based on detailed assessment of individual preferences, as part of an in-depth, careful matchmaking process,” they added, stating that they have a “high duty of care” picking the contestants. The pre-recorded episode featuring Ella’s wedding will air next Tuesday, and despite the controversy, she said was overjoyed to be making history on the show.

Pregnant Married at First Sight star 'devastated' after learning sex of her baby

Ella was seen confessing to the seemingly unaware groom that she was trans (Instagram)

But Channel 4 admitted they had told the groom beforehand (Instagram)

In a post on social media after news broke, she wrote: “Your girl's only gone and made history! I’m so honoured and proud to be the first ever trans bride on Married at First Sight The support and love I have received over the last few days has been overwhelming, and I cannot thank you enough for the love and kind words.” Ella confessed she felt under pressure to “be a voice and speak for a community who receive minimal representation, a minority who have such a misunderstanding in society, and as a group of people feel judged, misheard and stereotyped”, but she was excited for viewers to “meet Ella and see there is more to me.”

Emma Wilson