Married at First Sight viewers outraged after finale doesn’t air - what happened?

Viewers were left confused when a repeat episode was aired instead of the series finale (Photo: Channel 4)Viewers were left confused when a repeat episode was aired instead of the series finale (Photo: Channel 4)
Viewers were left confused when a repeat episode was aired instead of the series finale (Photo: Channel 4)

Married at First Sight viewers were left angry and confused after the series finale episode failed to air, and were instead met with frozen screens, adverts and a repeat of the previous nights episode.

This is what you need to know about what happened - and if you can watch the finale.

What happened?

Viewers hoping to watch the finale episode Married at First Sight were met with a repeat of the episode that aired on Wednesday night.

The channel later cut to a message which read: “Sorry - the current show is not available on Watch Live. We’ll be back shortly.”

Some viewers were also met with a message on the channel which said: “We apologise for the interruption. We’ll be back with you as soon as we can.”

Later the channel aired an episode of a different dating reality show, First Dates.

Red Bee Media, which handles playout services for Channel 4 and 5, said disruption was due to an “activation of the fire suppression systems” on Saturday (25 September) evening.

On Saturday, a number of TV channels went off the air after a fire alarm occurred at the broadcast centre.

Channel 4, Channel 5, BBC, ITV, Paramount Network and E Music were all affected.

At the time, Red Bee Media said: “As a result of this incident and the automatic safety measures set in motion at the time, several services originating from the broadcast centre have been disrupted.”

What has E4 said?

On Twitter, the official E4 account apologised for the mix up after the finale didn’t air as scheduled.

It wrote: “We’re aware it’s yesterday’s episode of #MAFSUK playing out this evening and apologise. It’s all down to our ongoing tech issues which we’re working hard on. We’ll update here as soon as we know more and when you’ll be able to see the final episode of MAFS UK.”

It followed up with another tweet: “To confirm, #MAFSUK and After won’t be playing tonight. We’re sorry again - we’re working to make it available on All 4 and E4 as soon as possible and we’ll update as soon as we know more.”

What have people said about the error?

It’s safe to say that fans of the reality show were not impressed with the situation, with many taking to Twitter to express their frustrations.

One person tweeted: “Wtf a repeat? I’ve waited all day for tonight’s episode #MAFSUK”

Another wrote: “I feel like Morag… This isn’t exactly what I asked for in a final episode #MAFSUK”

Married at Fight Sight star Adam Aveling, who married Tayah Victoria on the show, posted a rant on his Instagram story after the finale failed to air.

He wrote: “What an absolute s**t show! Shocking this! Good job I cancelled the post I had scheduled for 10pm.”

In handful of now deleted posts, Adam added: “Bit of an update, heard absolutely nothing from E4/Channel 4, been waiting for this episode for 4 months and this happens and nobody tells us anything, f***ing shocking.

“Someone from E4 tell me wtf is going on?!”

How can I watch the finale?

Unfortunately there has been no word about when the finale will air.

On the Channel 4 On Demand site, all the previous episodes of the season are available to watch online, however it only offers a vague “episode 20 is coming soon” message.

The E4 Twitter account, which said it would update when more information is available, has not offered any updates yet.