The TV industry faces "a watershed moment" and must not "sink into the gutter" in the name of ratings, a former boss of Channel 4 and Ofcom has warned in the wake of sexual abuse allegations made by three participants on Married at First Sight.
Michael Grade, who ran Channel 4 in the 1980s and 90s and was media regulator Ofcom's chairman until last month, said: "There is a line, and we're really in danger of crossing it. I'm really worried about it."
Although people sign up willingly to appear on reality shows like MAFS, they can't fully know what they're getting themselves into, Lord Grade told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"And in the name of what? In the name of ratings and clicks. We're in danger of going down a very nasty plughole here."
His comments came after an investigation by BBC Panorama revealed that two women who appeared on MAFS UK said they were raped by their on-screen husbands, and a third alleged a non-consensual sex act.
Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra said the women's accounts were "very troubling", adding: "Their distress is clear, and for that, I am of course deeply sorry."
The broadcaster has launched an external review of welfare on the show, while holiday company Tui has ended its sponsorship of the UK, Australian and US versions of the hit reality franchise.
Lawyers for CPL, the independent production company that makes the UK version of the show, said its welfare system was "gold standard" and industry-leading, and that it acted appropriately in all these cases.
Dogra also said Channel 4 can't investigate the women's allegations, which the men have denied, adding: "We are a broadcaster, not an adjudicator."
On Tuesday, police urged potential victims of sexual assault on reality the UK TV show to get in touch.
Lord Grade said broadcasters are under "huge commercial pressure" to have hit shows, but must be more creative to find ideas that don't put participants at risk.
"You've just got to use your imagination and be more creatively ambitious rather than reaching down into what I call a below-the-tabloid level of television, which has never been the tradition of public service broadcasting in this country."
Citing The Traitors as one show that has had huge success without putting players in jeopardy, he said: "They don't have to be degrading, they don't have to be gratuitous, and they don't have to sink into the gutter."
Lord Grade was chief executive from Channel 4 from 1988 to 97, and has also been controller of BBC One, chairman of the BBC and executive chairman of ITV.
He finished a four-year term as Ofcom chairman at the end of April.
He also expressed his concerns about the state of reality TV in a letter to the Times on Friday.
"Broadcasters' reliance on reality formats involving members of the public is risking a line being crossed, the line that separates entertainment from exploitation," he wrote.
"Each new format seems to bring us closer and closer to that abyss."
The requirement for broadcasters to adopt ever-increasing protection measures to fulfil their duty of care to contestants "is evidence of the growing risks they are trying, and too often failing, to mitigate", he said.
"In the name of what? Viewer titillation and online clicks?
"As a former broadcaster I would urge broadcasters, in assessing new formats, to ask themselves 'if we need this unprecedented suite of protections for contestants, is this really exploitation?' The answer is easy: don't make the show."
