Metropolitan Police

Unlike Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris was caught before his death and was made to pay the price for his many years of criminal behaviour – but only in the UK

Survivors of Rolf Harris have spoken out for the first time about his abusive behaviour, with one branding the late entertainer and artist as a “disgusting old man”.

The Australian star, who died in 2023, was jailed in the UK for five years and nine months for indecent assault in 2014. One of those who helped to convict him was the best friend of his daughter Bindi, known as Victim A, who was just 13 years old when his attacks started.

Now a new documentary features other women revealing what they went through, with one assaulted by Harris when she was a teenager on a Mediterranean holiday, another attacked while making a TV commercial and a third while on tour with her theatre group in London.

Sunny was 15 when she was filming a TV ad alongside Harris, who was the face of a brand called British Paints. She said the assault happened soon after he arrived on set and stood very close to her, “right in my face”. “That’s when he assaulted me, then walked off. The reason I am doing this is to say to him ‘you are a disgusting old man and you can’t get away with it any more’. Just f*** right off,” she says.

Pamela was on holiday with her boyfriend and another couple in Malta in 1970. “I was 18, everything was fun,” she remembers, until they ran into Harris in a bar and he took her into another room to show her “more of his art”. “He just pushed me against the wall and he put his hands on my breast. He kissed me which was not very nice, very horrible,” she says. “And then he put his hands in my pants, up my dress. And then he said ‘I’m sorry’, and then he cuddled me.”

She believes she knows why his mood changed suddenly. “I really thought he was going to rape me – I had my period at the time. I think that’s why he stopped.”

Although the paedophile and serial sex offender had made the UK his home, he travelled regularly back to native Australia. Another victim, called Nina, said that she was 14 in 1984 when Harris came in to a motel where she was staying with her family because of her dad’s job.

“Rolf Harris started to touch me in quite an imposing way. He was rubbing himself up against me and putting his hands over my shoulders and touching my chest. I just didn’t know how to make him stop,” she recalls. “He was reciting a poem while he was groping me, rhythmically, groping my breasts in time to his little nursery rhyme. Obviously for him this was funny and this was how he was treating a child.”

Nina reported him to police at the time but the programme finds that New South Wales authorities have no record of her complaint. She now feels angry that they ignored what she told them. ‘They were looking at their watches, yawning. By disregarding it, this behaviour is escalated. He’s repeated it over and over again with children, and all those children have been damaged by him. The police could have addressed that in 1984 and they just didn’t choose to. The whole thing leaves you feeling isolated. It’s hard to describe the impact that has on your development and confidence.”

One of the most disturbing elements of the two-part documentary is how many people knew what he was up to but did nothing to stop him as he hung out with pals including Jimmy Savile. Investigative reporter Meirion Jones describes how his wife was warned about Harris while working at the BBC. He says an executive told her not to get into a lift with him on her own or walk up the stairs in front of him. “Management knew Rolf Harris was in the habit of groping, and they were trying to transfer that problem to the people around him, saying to women, ‘don’t put yourself in a position where he might attack you’.”

The first episode also features Cathy, who had come to London on a six week tour with her theatre group in 1986, when she was 15. She was told that Rolf Harris was going to come and watch their final performance to give feedback. “He said to me ‘come and sit on my lap’ and he was telling me how talented he thought I was and that I should keep going,” she remembers, growing tearful. “

He started to put his hand on my legs and going under my skirt. This is all happening while we’re all singing and talking and laughing. It was so bizarre, no one knew anything was going on. I just went really quiet and was in shock, I just thought ‘I wish my Mum was here’. I went to the bathroom and I started to cry, I wasn’t sure if it had really happened. I composed myself and walked out and when I did he was right by the door – with a big smile on his face. That’s when he assaulted me. He put his fingers inside me and assaulted me and then he just walked away.”

She said the assault has had a lasting impact on her and she never returned to the theatre group. “For that one moment of whatever he got from it – it destroys people’s lives. Not just six months or a year, your whole life. Nothing is the same.”

Ben Markham, Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police who worked on Operation Yewtree, said Victim A was motivated to come forward after seeing Harris appear on screen at one particular event in 2012. “The turning point came with the Queen’s jubilee,” he explains. “It was like a dam bursting, she just felt ‘this is enough’.

Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.

A former Love Island star who is suspected of sexual assault and stalking has been re-arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police on suspicion of perverting the course of justice

A Love Island star has been re-arrested. The man was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. The man, in his 20s, was previously arrested in November last year at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of multiple offences, including sexual assault.

He is also suspected of criminal damage, assault by beating, coercive and controlling behaviour, and threats to share photographs or films of a person in an intimate state. But he has since been re-arrested by officers from the force who attended his home. It is claimed that he attempted to contact an alleged victim.

A spokesperson for The Metropolitan Police said: “A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. The arrest relates to an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual assault, stalking, criminal damage and assault. He was arrested at an address on Monday, April 27 and bailed pending further enquiries.”

The man is not linked to the current series of the ITV2 dating programme. Speaking to The Sun, a source said: “This second arrest is a real shock – and potentially very bad news for the ex-contestant.

“There was an investigation going on into very serious offences that he was arrested over last year.” Last year, the man was bailed pending further enquiries after his arrest upon arrival at Gatwick in the United Kingdom on November 27.

The force had launched an investigation into the claims just 12 days before the arrest and at the time, a spokesperson told the Mirror: “A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of multiple offences, including sexual assault, stalking, criminal damage and assault as part of an ongoing investigation by Met Police officers.

“Met Police launched an investigation on Saturday, 15 November and arrested a man at Gatwick Airport on Thursday, 27 November. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries. A woman has been offered specialist support by officers.”

The show, which launched earlier this week again, has faced several problems in recent years. Earlier this year, former winner Jack Fincham revealed he lost millions of pounds and was unable to afford rehab after a drug addiction.

In 2018, Sophie Gradon, who featured as a contestant in 2016, took her own life at the age of 32. The following year, Mike Thalassitis also took his own life at the age of 26, having been a contestant in 2017.

And in February 2020, former show host Caroline Flack died by suicide at the age of 40 after hosting the series from 2015 until 2019. The deaths of former contestants and Flack have sparked concerns about the well-being support offered by ITV after propelling contestants into the spotlight.

Following the incidents, ITV introduced duty of care measures to support those taking part on the show before, during and after their time in the villa and on screens. The improvement in support was welcomed by former contestants, who applauded ITV for doing more to help those who experienced life in the villa.

If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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A former MAFS UK bride has alleged she was left traumatised after her on-screen husband performed a lewd act and controlled her behaviour as she criticises welfare team

A former Married At First Sight UK bride says she was traumatised for years after appearing on the show and alleges her co-star restricted her movements, leaving her isolated.

Speaking to the Mirror following Panorama: The Dark Side of Married At First Sight, which aired on BBC One on Monday night, the bride alleged: “He performed a lewd act and then touched my face without consent. He banned me from drinking or speaking to production staff without him.”

She claims to have reported it to welfare staff and that production staff were aware of incidents but she was encouraged to continue with the show. She alleged: “They [production] would say, ‘It’s going to be OK’. Staff bought me a drink to help smooth things over after I complained.”

READ MORE: Two more Married At First Sight UK brides and a groom make fresh abuse claims

Describing the welfare team, she alleged: “They present as your best friend. I thought they were somebody you could talk to about anything. But if I look back on it now, I would say it’s more like grooming.”

The bride alleged she felt pressured into intimacy by her partner and does not believe enough safeguarding existed once couples returned to their apartments off camera.

She said: “I had sex with my partner and whilst I wasn’t forced, I felt pressured.” She added: “The couch ceremonies are supposed to be a safe space where you can speak honestly. But you go back to your apartment afterwards and there are no cameras there and nobody to protect you.”

She told how much of the alleged behaviour took place away from cameras and claimed she repeatedly raised concerns with welfare and production teams throughout filming.

She had months of psychological assessments, interviews and background checks, which she believed were designed to protect participants.

But she said: “I told them everything about myself – that I’d been in controlling relationships before, that I struggled speaking up for myself and that I fall in love very quickly. But now I feel like I gave them the blueprint on how to expose me and use me.

“They knew I had a history of abusive, controlling relationships and paired me with someone who controlled my every move.”

She believes the intense filming conditions heightened emotions. She said: “I’ve never cried more in my life. “You aren’t sleeping enough, you’re filming 14, 15, sometimes 20-hour days and when you’re not filming, you’re isolated in an apartment.

“At the dinner parties you’d be picked up at 8am in full hair and make-up then left sitting in a shipping container for six or seven hours before filming. The worse your situation was with your partner, the longer they seemed to leave you in the room.”

She questioned how much information relationship experts Paul C. Brunson, Charlene Douglas and the late Mel Schilling had received. The contestant said: “The experts had zero idea what was going on. They gave good advice based on the information they had.”

After watching the Panorama episode, the bride believes the worst is yet to come. She added: “They need to properly safeguard people instead of just creating drama. This Panorama story is only the beginning of hearing the nightmares people have had.”

The bombshell claims come as Channel 4 removed all ten series from its platforms and scrapped the series due to air in September following a BBC Panorama investigation that revealed two women claim they were raped by their on-screen “husbands” during filming, while another made allegations of sexual assault against her partner.

The Metropolitan Police has now urged potential victims to come forward, stating they will be “making approaches to the relevant production teams” to ensure anyone affected knows how to report criminal allegations.

The scandal has blown open the production practices used in dating reality shows which have been growing in popularity over recent years.

Monday’s documentary sparked a political row, with Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra telling MPs the broadcaster was “not an adjudicator” on the serious allegations. But it is feared this is just the tip of the iceberg for dating reality shows and these new claims put pressure on producers and broadcasters to clean up their act.

Channel 4 has commissioned an external review while insisting their welfare protocols are “some of the most comprehensive and robust in the industry”. Industry sources say the show is unlikely to ever air in the UK again.

The Mirror put these allegations to CPL and to Channel 4 who directed us to their statement in full. Part of this includes: “MAFS UK is produced under some of the most comprehensive and robust welfare protocols in the industry. These include the most thorough background checks available, a Code of Conduct which clearly sets out behavioural standards, daily contributor check-ins with a specialist welfare team and access to additional support before, during and after filming. The physical and psychological wellbeing of all contributors is of paramount importance throughout the process. All duty of care processes are regularly reviewed and, where appropriate, strengthened.”

Another section of the statement reads: “Channel 4 believes that when concerns related to contributor welfare were raised through existing welfare and production protocols, prompt and appropriate action was taken, based on the information available at the time. Channel 4 strongly refutes any claim to the contrary.”

READ MORE: ‘Serious concerns’ raised with Channel 4 and Ofcom over Married At First Sight rape claims