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‘I would ‘hate for history to repeat itself’, says MAFS’ Laura Vaughn as show slammed for casting alleged ‘abuser’
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MAFS UK star Laura Vaughn has confessed that she ‘would ‘hate for history to repeat itself’ following her co-star Shona Manderson’s toxic relationship after the show was slammed for casting an alleged ‘abuser’.
Last week the E4 show, which returns to our screens this Monday, was plunged into chaos after one of their new contestants was accused of abuse.
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One of the grooms, named Alex Henry, was pelted with allegations after the broadcaster shared his promo reel on their Instagram page.
A group of women have clubbed together to petition Channel 4 to reconsider airing scenes including the personal trainer from Birmingham, and even reached out to Married At First Sight UK's celebrity dating expert Mel Schilling.
When asked about her opinions on the petition, Laura - who took part in MAFS last year - exclusively told The Sun: "I will preface this by saying I don’t know what’s been alleged and I’m sure Channel 4 have done all the checks they need to do.
"What I will say, I was close to a certain situation last season with Shona and I would hate to see that happen again.
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"I was privy to some of those things and the Channel dealt with it in the right way.
"But you can underestimate the aftermath of that kind of thing.
";Shona is in a really happy relationship now, so she’s done her healing.
"But I do think it makes people very risk averse and quite avoidant. It certainly makes me quite an avoidant person in love.
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"I’m 35 and I’m still very very single. So think about that what you will.
"I do want to stress that Channel 4 did everything they could have done in my situation with the overflow of what the situation was."
MAFS couples
Laura failed to find love on Married At First Sight last year, after being paired with tennis coach Arthur Poremba.
Her pal Shona tied the knot with Brad Skelly - and they hit it off immediately.
However the former couple were asked to leave the reality experiment after Brad displayed "controlling and coercive" behaviour.
Shona is now in a happy relationship with MAFS 2024 star Matt Pilmoor, who was actually married to Adrienne Naylor on the show.
Those who have come forward with the allegations against Alex say they have presented evidence of their allegations to Channel 4.
A C4 advisor responded to the women directly and said they did not intend to remove Alex from the programme.
A message read: “MAFS UK was filmed several months ago and is not live, so Alexander will feature in the programmes that have been edited and are due for broadcast later this month. There will also be promotional activity on the channel’s social media platforms during this time, in which Alexander may appear.”
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When previously approached by The Sun, a Channel 4 spokesperson said: “MAFS UK contributors are subject to rigorous background vetting, including multiple independent psychological evaluations and a criminal record check before they can be cleared to take part.
"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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