Channel 5 has paid out damages to a couple who appeared on the show Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away after they became “upset and distressed”.
The couple featured in an episode originally aired in 2017.
And in the three subsequent years, it had been viewed by over six million people.
What happened on Channel 5 show Can’t Pay?
Metro reports that Keith Wain and Julie Kelly claimed the channel misused private information in a “grave” way.
They also described to those in court how the experience had left them “in a state of considerable distress”.
The offending episode showed Mr Wain after he had borrowed money to invest in a business in 2002.
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When the venture failed, he was unable to repay the loan from the private individual.
Mr Wain was also subject to a county court judgement.
The lender, meanwhile, “had agreed not to pursue the payment”.
What did the lawyer say?
The couple’s lawyer told the court that High Court enforcement officers and a film crew arrived at their home in 2017.
“He made it clear that the film crew was not to enter his home or to film him or Ms Kelly,” the lawyer said.
He made it clear that the film crew was not to enter his home or to film him or Ms Kelly
“They knew from Mr Wain’s refusal to permit them entry that he did not want them to film him… the inside of the home he shared with Ms Kelly or what took place in the home.”
However, they were still filmed by bodycams – footage from which was used in the show.
The two parties have now reached a settlement.
How did Channel 5 react?
A spokesperson for Channel 5 said: “It is the defendant’s case that it has at all times believed that this programme forms part of a series of real public interest…
“Each of the stories involves a careful balancing exercise between matters of public interest and the right to respect for privacy.
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“It is prepared to accept, however, that on this occasion in relation to the claimants, it may well have got that balance wrong.
“And for that reason, it is prepared to settle their claim, and also apologise to them for the distress caused to them by the broadcast of the episode in question.”
ED! contacted Channel 5 for additional comment.
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