Psychologist slams Married At First Sight: 'It's the psychological sewer of Australian TV'

It's one of the highest-rated shows on TV.

But not everybody is a fan of Married At First Sight, with one expert calling it "the psychological sewer of Australian television".

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg said the Channel Nine reality series could do some "serious damage" to contestants, the Daily Mail reports.

"One day one of these people is going to do some serious damage to themselves during or after the show," Carr-Gregg said.

"We are playing with people’s lives. I don’t think this is good entertainment."

"I know it rates its socks off, but so did the Colosseum in Rome because people liked watching lions rip Christians apart," he added.

Married at First Sight psychologist John Aiken.

While Dr. Carr-Gregg had some harsh things to say about the "social experiment", the show's psychologist, John Aiken, insists the participants are well cared for.

"From the outset of this show, it has been of utmost importance to myself and all other professionals involved to constantly assess and monitor the well-being of all the participants in the social experiment," he clarified to 9Honey.

John adds: "Duty of care is something that we take extremely seriously."

Clare Verrall, who appeared in the second season, has been very outspoken when it comes to criticising Married At First Sight.

"You go through this whole audition process with the producers and the casting managers until you get to the point where you meet with the executive producers," she explained to The Kyle and Jackie O Show last year.

"And they think, 'Wow you’re a great character and we’ve got another great character that we’ve either approached or headhunted or may have applied and we’re going to put you guys together'.

"Some of these couples were legitimately put together for love but some of it is just for drama. And I was unlucky enough to be the drama couple last year."

Clare also alleged that her TV "husband" Jono never actually applied to go on the show, saying: "He had a friend who worked at the network who knew that he had a very hot head and would blow up and make great TV. So he approached him."

- Daily Mail