MediaWorks has said it “no longer requires” Married At First Sight NZ groom Chris Mansfield for “any further commitments”, after news surfaced yesterday that Mansfield is wanted in the United States on an outstanding domestic violence charge.
News broke yesterday that the MAFS groom, who was born in Christchurch but now lives in Auckland, had been charged with assault in 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The plaintiff was a 22-year-old woman.
He attended his first two court appearances but was a no-show for his third, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
That warrant is outstanding, as are the domestic violence charges, the Seattle Municipal Court confirmed to Stuff.
MediaWorks, the parent company for Three, has issued a statement saying it was “shocked by the allegations that have surfaced in relation to Married at First Sight groom Chris Mansfield”.
It explained that filming of the show, which premieres on Three next Sunday, had already been completed when news of his domestic violence charge came to light, but Chris Mansfield “will not be required by the production or network for any further commitments”.
Now To Love yesterday asked MediaWorks if he was police checked, as well as whether any other checks on his character had been completed.
MediaWorks responded with, “We can confirm that prior to commencing filming, every participant is subject to a New Zealand criminal record check, participates in a psychiatric assessment and must have been deemed by a professional psychologist to be fit to participate in the format.
“All our participants are required to confirm that they have no undisclosed convictions of any kind and have never been investigated by the police for any criminal activity but not then convicted.
“Under privacy law it is not possible to obtain information about any charges or outstanding warrants (international or otherwise) an individual may face.”
Dave McClelland, who did not find love on last season’s MAFS with wife Julia Malley, says Three was “actually pretty thorough” in vetting the cast.
“The paperwork was quite intense. There was a police one and a release one where they asked if they were allowed to go into your records, something to do with the privacy act, and then a 300-question [it felt like] piece of paper that was sent to a psychiatrist. Then following that a Skype interview with a woman reviewing that content.
“We were briefed at MediaWorks and given the opportunity to be upfront with them. This is when you’ve been selected. We were taken into a room and told, ‘You can expect the media to go delving into your past, is there anything that you want to tell us now? Because 99 per cent it’s going to come out.’
“And even I thought pretty long and hard about that because even though I’m pretty boring you never know if someone’s got an axe to grind.”
According to Three’s promotional information, Chris, 39, is a brand ambassador whose friends describe him as a “modern day Peter Pan”.
He’s “looking for someone to share his busy life with” and wants a partner who will be his “best friend, someone he can completely be himself with”.
He would prefer a partner with “a smile that lights up the room with eyes you get lost in,” and “ideally wants someone who is independent and confident”.
He values loyalty and honesty.
