Pressure is mounting on Nine and production company Endemol Shine over the reality show Married at First Sight (MAFS), as police investigate an incident in which a “groom” allegedly punched a wall, with the show also reported to SafeWork NSW.
NSW Police is now investigating the incident last week involving a couple the show has called “one of the experiment’s strongest”.
Paul Antoine and Carina Mirabile discuss the incident that has led to a NSW Police probe.Credit: Nine
“The matter has been referred to officers from South Sydney Police Area Command, who have commenced an investigation,” NSW Police confirmed in a statement. “As the investigation is current, police will not be making any further comment in relation to the matter.”
SafeWork confirmed on Monday it had received a report of an alleged work health and safety issue related to a MAFS episode and was considering the report.
In Wednesday’s episode of the reality series on Nine, also the publisher of this Masthead, contestants Paul Antoine and Carina Mirabile separately relayed an argument they had the night before that allegedly ended with Antoine punching the wall of their shared bedroom.
On Sunday’s episode John Aiken, one of the show’s in-house relationship experts who appear on air, labelled the behaviour “toxic, inappropriate and unacceptable”.
‘Toxic, inappropriate and unacceptable’: MAFS experts confront Paul Antoine over the incident.Credit: Nine
The incident took place after Mirabile told Antoine and other contestants she had slept with a rapper whose music they were listening to in an Uber. While the other couple present thought nothing of it, Mirabile said Antoine later became “really angry” and “it escalated really quickly”. After he allegedly punched the wall in their apartment, Carina said he left and didn’t return for the night.
“I felt anxious waking up this morning, a little bit on-edge and sad,” she said at the start of the episode, also noting she was not scared of him. Antoine then reunited with Mirabile, tearfully apologising, promising it would never happen again and trying to explain that he felt “disrespected” by her comment.
