The $30 million gamble on safety

Four couples marry each other after being matched by experts and meeting as strangers on Married At First Sight Australia. But the show's producers have been accused of failing to protect the women involved, with several contestants alleging they were not informed about their partners' prior convictions.

The allegations come after several women who appeared on the UK version of the show came forward with sexual assault allegations, engulfing broadcaster Channel 4 in a shocking abuse scandal .

Female contestants on Married At First Sight Australia have said they were not told their partners had drug and violence convictions. brides from previous seasons of the hit reality show have revealed they were left terrified by the aggressive behaviour of their partners.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The productiion company behind MAFS Australia, Endemol Shine Australia, has been accused of failing women by not disclosing the criminal histories of their on-screen husbands.

Several female contestants have come forward to share their experiences,including Sierah Swepstone, who starred in last year's MAFS Australia series and was paired with Billy Belcher, who in 2014 was sentenced for several drug offences in Perth.

Ms Swepstone has claimed female conntestants are not safe on the show, adding that women should be told if their on-screen husbands have a criminal past.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

Channel 9, which broadcasts the Australian version of the show, and production company Endemol Shine Australia, previously said: Billy was completely honest with production about the life lessons he learnt when he was 18, after receiving a suspended sentence with good behaviour for drug related offences.

However, several female contestants have disputed this claim, alleging that producers knew about their partners' prior convictions but failed to disclose this information.

Katie Johnstone, who appeared on MAFS Australia last year, said: If you're with someone who has a sketchy background ,then you should be made aware of that. Especially considering you're expected to be alone and share a room with this person, you need to know and it's not fair that women are being placed in these positions.

A familiar pattern from the 2019 crash

The allegations against MAFS Australia's producers come after sevreal women who appeared on the UK version of the show came forward with sexual assault allegations, engulfing broadcaster Channel 4 in a shocking abuse scandal.

Several female contestants have come forward to share their experiences, including one woman who spoke anonymously to the BBC, alleging that her on-screen husband had acted aggressively in the past and that producers knew about this behaviour.

She told the corporation: I was terrified the whole time. I thought I'd be safe, that's why I signed up to the show.

The woman also claimed that Channel 9 is making money off vulnerable peole, adding that the man was cast anyway despite producers knowing about his past.