MAFS UK star Thomas defends show's welfare team   

Married At First Sight UK has been hit with controversy after the show’s welfare and editing process were criticised.

Gemma Owen, 31, has said the show ‘ruins lives’, April Banbury, 33, is in therapy following her marriage to George Roberts, 40, who has been arrested over allegations of harassment and several cast members have slammed the show’s final edit. 

But Thomas Hartley, 31, who arguably came across as one of the most explosive characters on the show, has nothing but positive words to say about his experience. 

Talking to MailOnline, Thomas said: ‘I think people are quick to say this show is overly edited, but you’ve got to remember that sometimes you are being filmed for 15 hours a day and they’ve just condensed it. 

‘Everything that comes out of your mouth, you are responsible for. Welfare are there to be kind, tolerant pick up the pieces and accept you. 

‘I was trolled and I accept that, I was a nightmare and you got to own your s***.’

Thomas added that now the show has been on air for a few years, people should now know exactly what they are letting themselves in for. 

He said: ‘You know what you’re going into and know what to expect because you’ve watched the show before. 

‘You go through rigorous checks speak with doctors and experts ahead of it and it’s month of stuff you go through.

‘People just can’t hold a mirror up to themselves. You’ve got to own what you do.’

In fact, Thomas praised the show and his husband Adrian Sanderson, 37, for actually improving his mental health and teaching him about himself.

He said: ‘I feel in such a good place now and that’s a lot down to the show. I give full credit to E4 and in the grand scheme of things, 16 out of the 20 contributors would say positive things.’ 

‘Adrian and I are on excellent terms and we speak every day and regularly see each other and make plans. I absolutely love that man. I think he comes more out of his shell as the series goes on.’ 

Gemma Rose, who Thomas remains good friends with, claimed the show ‘ruins lives’ after she was dumped by her husband on the show.  

Gemma said she was left feeling suicidal after E4 ‘slut shamed’ her and ignored her concerns about being matched with ‘aggressive’ husband Matt Murray.

The salon owner told MailOnline she suffered ‘multiple panic attacks’, exhaustion, and believes she was ‘coerced’ by producers to stay on the show despite expressing on several occasions that she wanted to go home.

She claimed she felt ‘scared’ and ‘vulnerable’ being married to tattooed barber Matt, 32, who she said ‘lied’ about her ‘masturbating in a restaurant’ to cover up for his own ‘toxic behaviour.’

The mum-of-two says the show airing the false storyline that she pleasured herself in a restaurant made her want to ‘die’ and she will be taking her complaint with the broadcaster further.

She explained: ‘I feel that Matt slut-shamed me, I feel like the experts did also.

‘He has the same sense of humour as me and made very similar comments on the wedding day, which didn’t make the edit.

‘He asked me “do you like it rough? I’m going to choke you in the bedroom.” It’s been made to look like he was the victim when he just didn’t find me attractive.

‘Matt made that up to deflect what he did in that restaurant, which was getting aggressive, flipping a chair back, and storming away. It obviously did not happen.

‘I defended myself on more than one occasion and said that’s not f***ing true, but it didn’t make the cut because the storyline was too good.

‘I was told it wouldn’t be put into the final edit and I was disgusted when it did. E4 is not allowed to manipulate a storyline like that so I will be taking it further.’

Gemma, who’s from Devon, married Matt at first sight during filming of the series back in April, and says she believes welfare should have ‘removed’ her from the process amid fears for her husband’s actions.

Thomas said: ‘Gemma was really invested in the process she was heartbroken 

‘She should have left it a bit longer to let the story play out before jumping on that and saying the edit is wrong. 

‘Fair enough if that’s what you believe, but people now love her and it’s balance with a TV show.’

On top of this, George was arrested on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour.

The 40-year-old was arrested last Thursday but has continued to feature on the pre-recorded shows featuring himself and his TV wife April.

Last month, The Sun reported that three exes of George made complaints about his alleged behaviour but the show makers ignored their alerts.

Father-of-four Roberts, a financial adviser, denies any wrongdoing and has been bailed by Scotland Yard.

The Met Police told MailOnline: ‘A 40-year-old man was arrested by Met officers in Worcestershire on Thursday, 29 September on suspicion of controlling and coercive behaviour.

‘He was taken to Worcestershire police station and subsequently bailed pending further enquiries.

‘This follows an allegation of controlling and coercive behaviour and harassment reported to the Met on Monday, 26 September.’

George’s ‘wife’ April, who’s a dress designer from Hampshire, has been undergoing therapy following her time on the series.

Speaking on Instagram, she said: ‘The traumas that have been brought on from this show have made me re-evaluate things.

‘I really have and I’m not ashamed to admit, I have been seeing a therapist ever since.’

Moreover, castmember, Kasia London, 36, has criticised the show for making her look sex mad on the show, when paired with Kwame Badu, 42. 

She told The Sun: ‘They made out like I was the one chasing Kwame, but it was the other way round. In the scene where I said “I’m ready”, it was from another interview when I said “I’m ready to move in” with my husband.

‘But it looked like I was saying I was ready to hop into bed with him. I had words with a chief executives about that.’

The body contouring clinic owner went on: ‘In front of the cameras he tried to make out he didn’t want to get intimate with me which is a bit of an insult really. But the truth is, my man was trying it. In fact, our bed was a tent on a few occasions. Lol.’