Thousands of Married At First Sight viewers sign a petition calling for Nine to apologise for airing ‘triggering’ scenes involving Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson
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Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson have become one of Married At First Sight‘s most controversial couples this season.
Now a Change.org petition is demanding Channel Nine issue an apology for airing ‘triggering’ scenes involving the ‘gaslighting’ groom and his long-suffering wife.
The petition, which has already received 2,500 signatures in under 24 hours, is also calling for Nine to acknowledge its alleged ‘failure of duty of care’ towards Melissa.
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Cancelled? Thousands of Married At First Sight viewers have signed a petition calling for Nine to apologise for airing ‘triggering’ scenes involving Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson
‘This season of Married at First Sight Australia features a couple, Melissa and Bryce, who portray an excessive amount of DV signs which are not being handled by the network appropriately,’ the petition states.
‘There is a clear failure of duty of care to Melissa during filming of the show, allowing her to remain in a toxic and dangerous environment with her partner for the “benefit” of the network.’
‘She is being subject to gaslighting, emotional manipulation, isolation, and countless other textbook signs of a controlling and or abusive relationship,’ the petition goes on to claim, adding that the scenes are ‘incredibly triggering and stressful to watch’.
Problematic: A Change.org petition is demanding Channel Nine issue an apology for airing ‘triggering’ scenes involving the ‘gaslighting’ groom and his long-suffering wife
It continues: ‘This petition is for the Nine Network to acknowledge and apologise for letting Melissa go through this and also airing such a horrible relationship on TV without doing anything to showcase that the relationship is clearly not healthy.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.
Similar outrage has exploded on Twitter, where many viewers are calling for the show to be cancelled or boycotted over its depiction of toxic relationships.
Awkward: Bryce shocked his co-stars at Sunday’s commitment ceremony when he revealed he’d initially voted to leave the experiment, before crossing it out and writing ‘stay’
Bryce shocked his co-stars at Sunday’s commitment ceremony when he revealed he’d initially voted to leave the experiment, before crossing it out and writing ‘stay’.
As he made no secret of his uncertainty about his marriage, Melissa revealed to the experts she was falling in love with Bryce.
The other couples were horrified, with Beck Zemek saying ‘he doesn’t care about her’ and Patrick Dwyer muttering that he ‘doesn’t get’ Bryce’s logic.
Bryce later defended writing leave, saying he didn’t want to break up with Melissa but instead wanted the couple to leave the ‘toxic environment’ of the experiment.
Blame game: He tried to further explain his initial ‘leave’ decision on Monday, claiming he wanted to remove Melissa from the ‘toxic environment’ other cast members were creating
Married At First Sight may be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after outraged viewers filed multiple complaints about the show.
ACMA received 14 complaints about this year’s season, and four of those related specifically to Bryce and Melissa, reports The Wash.
Married At First Sight continues on Tuesday from 7:30pm on Nine
Complaints: Married At First Sight may be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after outraged viewers filed multiple complaints about the show