MAFS UK’s Amy Kenyon says she needed therapy after being ‘degraded’ on the show

MAFS UK’s Amy Kenyon needed therapy after being ‘degraded’ on the show. Picture: E4

Married At First Sight UK’s Amy Kenyon has revealed in a new interview that she needed therapy after being publicly ‘degraded’ by ex-husband Luke Debono on the show.

Former series 9 Married At First Sight UK bride Amy Kenyon has opened up about being ‘sexually degraded’ on and off camera while married to Luke Debono.

A recent Panorama episode saw three MAFS UK brides come forward and allege sexual assault by their onscreen husbands. The documentary focused on how CPL (the production company behind MAFS UK) handled the brides’ welfare concerns when they reported the incidents.

Shona Manderson, who appeared on the show in 2023, claimed that her onscreen husband Brad Skelly went “too far” during intimacy and crossed a boundary without her consent. He has since denied the allegations.

With the future of MAFS uncertain and Channel 4 announcing that they commissioned an external review into contributor welfare on the show. Many former MAFS stars have spoken out in support and shared their own show experience, including bride Amy.

On her wedding day Amy told producers she thought Luke was “creepy”. Picture: E4

In an interview, Amy shared the sexual harassment she experienced on the show, she said: “Sexual harassment went on, and mine happened on camera. I just had to deal with it, and everybody was just laughing at it. It was making good TV, even if I did feel uncomfortable 80% of the time.

“I had a very, very, very difficult time on the show. And went through all that like sexual harassment publicly. I had to have therapy afterwards.”

Once the pair were married, Amy revealed that Luke often left her feeling uncomfortable: “He was very sexually explicit and constantly making derogatory jokes. I’m not that sensitive, but it was the fact that I was asking him to stop, and he wouldn’t.

“It started straight away. When we went on the honeymoon, that’s when I said, ‘Look, you really make me feel uncomfortable. Can you tone it down a little bit?’”

She added: “But as soon as he saw people laughing at things he was coming out with, it just got worse and worse and worse.”

Amy struggled with Luke’s sexual innuendoes during the experience. Picture: E4

Throughout Amy and Luke’s relationship, Amy was regularly left feeling uncomfortable due to Luke’s habit of dropping sexual innuendos and openly discussing their intimacy on camera, which he ‘promised’ he wouldn’t do.

Even though the pair had split, Amy revealed at the reunion that for her birthday Luke sent her a present and a shockingly inappropriate letter.

Although many of Luke’s comments did make it to TV, Amy claimed a lot happened when the cameras stopped rolling.

She said: “If I’m honest, that’s not even the bit that I struggled with most. Honestly, some of the things he would say to me off camera, I didn’t know if he was trying to gaslight me, to get a reaction or if he was telling the truth.”

Amy and Luke split at Final Vows. Picture: E4

Once the series aired, Amy struggled watching it back. She explained: “I started questioning myself, because I got trolled so bad off the back of the show, and I thought, why do people not see that the way he’s being is wrong?”

“I have standards, and I would never want my daughter to be spoken to like that by a man, to be sexually degraded.”

Amy said she doesn’t the blame the broadcaster and remains firm that they undertook all the necessary checks. However, she stated that the DBS screening was limited, as it only checks for a criminal record in the UK.

Going forward, Amy thinks 24-hour CCTV in the apartments is necessary, as you “don’t truly know who somebody is”.